Cash4Gold Takes a Shine to McMahon, Hammer

January 29, 2009

By Adweek Staff

Cash4Gold.com plans an unlikely Super Bowl debut with "One-Up," a direct-response outing starring Ed McMahon and MC Hammer in a 30-second commercial filmed at McMahon's home in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Hammer and octogenarian McMahon -- the latter shown seated behind a desk throughout the spot -- basically provide a tongue-in-cheek list of the ordinary and oddball gold items one could sell for cash. Hammer, for example, notes that he could sell a golden pair of his trademark puffy parachute pants, and McMahon considers selling a solid-gold commode.

Euro RSCG Edge created the commercial, with an assist from Havas sibling Arnold. Bryan Buckley directed.

Both McMahon and Hammer have experienced financial hardships in the past, a bond that makes them a good team for the commercial, according to the client.
 
"It's an American tradition to find entrepreneurial solutions to the most pressing challenges," said Howard Mofshin, president of Cash4Gold, in a statement. "[We] invented a new way to unlock the value of the stuff that we all have laying around the house, making it easier for hundreds of thousands of people to get by. That's the key message our spot brings to the Super Bowl audience."

In the same statement, McMahon says he has used the Cash4Gold service, but does not elaborate.

The client spends $100 million-plus annually on ads.