• by Thom Forbes , April 8, 2015

The adjective “madcap” fit Stan Freberg, who died of natural causes yesterday at 88, as tightly as eight great tomatoes stuffed into a “little bitty can.” His “sprawling imagination fueled a multifaceted career that included pretty much inventing the idea of using satire in commercials,” writes Douglas Martin in the New York Times.  

“Freberg took droll delight in puncturing pomposity wherever he found it — in celebrities, in language and, especially, in the hard sell of advertising,” writes M. Alex Johnson for NBCNews. And he made household names out of such unlikely products as Sunsweet pitted prunes — “Today the pits, tomorrow the wrinkles” — in doing so. 

"The son of a Baptist minister, Freberg was born in Pasadena on Aug. 7, 1926. Gangly and introverted, he spent hours lying on the floor with his ear next to his family's console radio,” Dennis McLellan writes in the Los Angeles Times.

“He started voicing Warner Bros. cartoons such as ‘Roughly Squeaking’ and ‘It’s a Grand Old Nag’ as soon as he graduated from high school,” reportsVariety’s Pat Saperstein. 

After doing some stand-up with the comedy orchestra Red Fox and his Musical Hounds in the late ’40s after serving in Special Services during World War II, Freberg went “into the studio at Capitol Records in Hollywood and, bolstered by actors, musicians and sound effects, created what he called ‘audio moments,’” McLellan writes.

His diverse career, which included winning more than 20 Clio awards, is well documented by Deadline.com’s Erik Pedersen. “He continued working well into his 80s and released an album, ‘Songs in the Key of Freberg,’ with his wife in 2010,” Saperstein says.

But Freberg “made his most lasting impact in advertising, a field he entered because he considered most commercials moronic,” Martin writes. “Usually working as a creative consultant to large agencies, he shattered Madison Avenue conventions.”

“Freberg disdained the hard sell,” writes Duane Byrge in the Hollywood Reporter. “He created such classic comic ad capers as “Nine out of 10 doctors recommend Chun King Chow Mein,” and his Jeno’s Frozen Pizza campaign featured the Lone Ranger and Tonto.”

Freberg opened his own agency, Freberg Ltd. in 1958 with the slogan, “More Honesty Than the Client Had in Mind,” Byrge reports.

“Freberg offended some advertisers by using the word ‘old’ to refer to, well, old people. So he recorded a song called ‘Elderly Man River,’” blogs NPR’s Ted Robbins. 

One of his albums was titled “Green Chri$tma$.” Suffice to recount that when a businessman with “little spice company over in East Orange, N.J.” pitches a campaign without a product shot that featured the tagline “Peace on earth, good will toward men” to a gravelly voiced business guru named Scrooge, he’s shot down. “You’re a businessman. Christmas is something to take advantage of,” he’s told. That was in 1958.

The bit also has a cigarette company executive named Crass revealing that his Xmas magazine ads will not just feature, as usual, cartons of cigarettes peeking out of Santa’s pack. “Better than that! This year we’ll have him smoking one!” Mr. Crass reveals. 

“His ‘Stan Freberg Show’ on radio was controversial for several reasons, including the fact that he refused to accept tobacco companies as sponsors,” reports Variety’s Saperstein. 

In one spot, sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury — appearing on a wall-to-wall television as a voiceover touts his seemingly incredulous predictions for the year 2001 — protests that he “never mentioned prunes in any of my stories,” no less that Sunsweet pitted prunes would be “carried in tiny mini-packs.” 

Survivors include his wife Hunter, son Donavan and daughter Donna Jean.

Freberg’s son Donavan posted the news of Freberg’s death to his Facebook page, saying, “He was, and will always be, my hero, and I will carry his brilliant legacy forward as best I am able,” reports Variety’s Saperstein. 

“Donavan Freberg, who was injured today in a car crash while on his way to meet with family members, told Deadline that his father had been ‘estranged from his family and friends for 14 years since marrying his second wife. 'He married her and we never heard from him again,’” Pedersen reports.

Among those who site Freberg as a major influence have been George Carlin, Penn Jillette and Weird Al Yankovic. He was “an idol to fans as diverse as the Beatles, Anthony Hopkins, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks,” according to McLellan’s obit.

“He changed the world. He changed me. I'll miss him so much. ‘Day-Yo,’” @pennjillette tweeted.