Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Joe Namath on TV

How strange to see Joe Namath doing a commercial for Medicare Coverage Helpline. He claims to have called and discovered that he is eligible for dental and prescription coverage, private home aides, and rides to medical appointments.

I’m not sure which scenario is worse to contemplate: that Joe Namath needs these benefits, or that he’s willing to say that he does to make some money. O television!

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November 6, 2019: A new commercial omits Namath’s claim about his eligibility: Here it is.

comments: 7

Anonymous said...

Joe Namath! What a character and remember him from his talk show and commercials with Farrah.

He was a fun talk host back in the day. One of the episodes had Howard Cosell on it who was unbelievable.

Those were the days of talk tv!

Is it sad that he is now doing those commercials or just a sign of the times of using celebrities that that crowd would connect with?

Kirsten

Michael Leddy said...

I’d say both sad and a sign of the times. But wait: Joe Namath had a talk show? I have to look that up.

Slywy said...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211817/

Michael Leddy said...

Thanks, Diane. The list of guests — he had Dick Cavett on!

I watched a little bit of a clip with Peggy Fleming on YouTube — a real time capsule, for better or worse.

andyaz said...

With a net worth of $18 million, Joe certainly doesn't need those extra benefits, nor is he eligible. But saying that he is encourages other people who aren't eligible to call, which is just blatant false advertising. I don't know how they get away with that.

Michael Leddy said...

He’s disappeared from the commercials on our cable channels. And before he did, they cut his last line, which guaranteed that anyone who called this outfit would be glad they did.

Michael Leddy said...

He’s back, and the new commercial omits the claim that he’s not getting benefits he deserves: here it is.