TM May 9, 2011

He might be dead, but is still alive in various ads. During the past 10 years Osama bin Laden featured in many commercials selling anything from condoms, music phones, paintball, cars to Belgian satire magazine. British Airways advertised their downloadable paperless boarding passes in an internal staff magazine, with sample issued apparently by mistake to Mr. Osama Bin Laden.

Is Osama’s marketing career over with his death or will his image find permanent place in advertising culture?

In 2008 Brazilian agency Neogama/BBH predicted: ‘In 2066, Bin Laden will be caught. Live to see it. Quit smoking now’. So for those who did quit/continue smoking, but are still alive here are few ads featuring ex-chief of al-Qaeda: