The+use+of+dead+celebrities+in+advertising+and+marketing

Petty, Ross D., and Denver D'rozario. "The Use of Dead Celebrities in Advertising and Marketing: Balancing Interests in the Right of Publicity." Journal of Advertising 38.4 (2009): 37-49. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

Normally, when a celebrity dies, their name, face, and title are used in merchandising and advertising. Over time, the use of deceased celebrities in merchandising and advertising increased so much that state laws had to be implemented in order to protect them from being used by companies and/or individuals to obtain publicity or wealth without consent. In this article, authors Petty and D’rozario examine the practice of profiting off of deceased celebrities. Because living celebrities are more of a challenge to profit off of because of their ability to defend themselves, marketers and advertisers prey on the celebrities that have no ability to prevent unauthorized actions. It is suggested in the article that the law favors celebrity heirs over fans; however, a proposal is also made in an effort to balance the preferences of heirs and fans through safe practices.

This article reflects on the ways in which celebrities are used for marketing and advertising once they have passed, which is very supportive to the research that I am conducting. I have always sensed that dead celebrities were given much more attention after death than during their lives. The claims and evidence given by the authors in this article is credible and the proposal is sensible. Because my research partially focuses on the ways that celebrities are manipulated once dead, I found this article to be a suitable source for providing solid facts as well as educated opinions in my research.