TIME Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.

Current subscribers for full access. Not a TIME subscriber? .

Marketing Ghosts in the Commercial

Among the 100 or so actors wandering about a ritzy night spot in the latest TV commercial for Diet Coke are three with a very unusual item on their resumes: they're dead. Their faces are immediately recognizable. But just how Humphrey Bogart, Louis Armstrong and James Cagney were resurrected to shill for a soft drink with living songman Elton John is the story of "Nightclub" -- 60 seconds of inspired flackery that since its first airing two days before Thanksgiving, has become one of the most talked-about TV commercials of the year.

"Nightclub" is the creation of Lintas: New York, the...

For use in rail of Articles page or Section Fronts pages. Duplicate and change name as necesssary to distinguish.