Infamous Celebrity Endorsements

[FatherJack]

I came a cross a game the other day and on the front cover was a cartoon version of Jimmy Saville, a radio DJ and TV personality who died in 2011 and becuase of the years of charity and fundrasing activities, the streets in the city of Leeds in England were lined by grieving fans and well-wishers for his funeral procession.

The game was Super Trolley on the C64 and it was a nice story on how the game got published. In the 70s, 80s and 90s, there was a show in the UK where children would write in to Jimmy on a show called Jim'll Fix It. The letters would contain the child's wish like 'I want to sing with this star' or 'I want to see how my favourite pies are made in the factory'. One child wanted his game idea to be made into reality and the wish was granted with Mastertronic publishing the game.

A nice story but sadly just his the mention of his name brings anger to people these days. A year after his death, people started coming forward with allegations of sexual abuse and after further investigations it came out that he had been doing this for decades to hundreds, maybe thousands of people. It also opened a can of worms and many other celebrities were investigated and found guilty or not guilty of abuse.

I was wondering if anyone else has come across endorsements of video games, either on the game or adverts from famous people (or infamous) that you wouldn't want to be related to a game or any product today.

[Zagnorch]

Run away as fast as you can, little helper, or Jim'll "fix" you next!

Although I knew about Savile a couple years back thanks to Charlie Brooker, he has been occasionally mentioned in the U.S. news recently as a UK parallel of the Bill Cosby serial-rapist scandal.

Hey, speaking of Bill Cosby and infamous celebrity endorsements for computers & vidya-related stuff:








Here's a little something to motivate the TI-99 salespeople:




Don't forget the print ads:


[img width=700 height=919]http://www.mainbyte.com/ti99/computers/994a_ad.jpg[/img]

[img width=601 height=805]http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2/retrocomputers/cosbyti99.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=1010]http://www.vintagecomputing.com/wp-content/images/retroscan/ti_cc40_large.jpg[/img]

Oh wow, TI put out a pocket computer, too? I definitely hafta keep an eye out for one of these during my thrift hunts.

Aaaand finally, I gotta fit my calculator fetish interest into the mix as well:

[img width=357 height=519]http://flavorwire.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/bill-cosby-calculator.jpg[/img]


...'Late

[FatherJack]

I'll never watch the Cosby show in the same light again. Call social services 

[Zagnorch]

I'll never watch the Cosby show in the same light again. Call social services 

God, the Cosby Show... some of the most boring, unfunny crap ever flung onto a telly screen. I never understood its appeal, aside from having the practically untouchable Cosby brand slapped onto it.

House of Cosbys, on the other hand:










 

...'Late