In 1992, Hugh Hefner purchased the crypt adjacent to the one Marilyn Monroe rests in at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles for $75,000, claiming that he wanted to spend eternity next to his former centerfold. Seventeen years later, a Beverly Hills woman is selling her husband’s current resting place, a crypt directly above Ms. Monroe, on eBay. No word on where her husband, a “serial entrepreneur” who was entombed there 23 years ago face down (according to his dying wish), will be relocated to. (UPDATE: He’ll be moved one crypt to the right, a plot originally purchased for his wife.) The sale ends in about five-and-a-half hours. The current bid is just north of $4.6 million.

UPDATE: The auction ended with a final bid of $4,602,100, but the winning bidder retracted his offer, claiming in an e-mail, “I need to cancel this because of the paying problem.” (I need to remember that one.) The seller’s banker has contacted the 11 other bidders who offered $4.5 million or more for the hole-in-the-wall and is waiting for someone to make an offer. Who says online auctions aren’t easy?

I’m not sure about you, but I crave good news. Maybe it’s because I’m the eternal optimist. Everywhere you turn its more gloom and doom. Bad housing market. Layoffs. Higher unemployment. Shaky stock market. Bailouts. This stuff dominates the media’s attention leaving little time or energy for any sign of good news.

It pisses me off. There are good things happening, I know it. They should talk about it, share it. 

The other night I’m watching the news and during the commercial break I saw this spot for GM that talks about them rallying in these tough times. People in the spot were wearing rally caps (inside out baseball hats for those of you not familiar). The spot’s tone is uplifting and, get this, positive. I couldn’t believe it. Immediately following this spot is AT&T with another spot that taps into the power of positive thinking. This one talks about how, for every downturn, there’s an upturn while touting some of the cool things they are doing for the long-term.

Those 60 seconds were great. Two ads that attempted to turn a negative into a positive for their brands, flipping the script a bit and taking a different angle. I don’t think much of either brand, but I respect their current POV: Some optimism.

One way to break through the clutter is to go counter to what’s in the news. For these brands, who knows if it’ll work, but I know I appreciated their optimism. I sure hope others catch on.

My late father, Tom Fallon, was a longtime advertising salesman and regional vice president for Iron Age Magazine, considered the bible of the steel industry. Just as everything I know about football, I learned from listening to Myron Cope, everything I learned about advertising (until I came to Pavone), I learned from my father. I also learned a thing or two about sales.

Dad used to take me along occasionally when he had lunch with clients. We’d go to places like the Top of the Triangle, on the top floor of what was then the U.S. Steel Building, the Duquesne Club, or the Pittsburgh Press Club – exclusive places with outrageous prices.

Before we’d meet one of his clients for lunch, if it was someone Dad had not seen in some time, he might look at his Rolodex “tickler” file. Index cards in this file would include not only someone’s name, title, company and phone number but also the names of the person’s wife and kids, family pet, favorite charities, topics of discussion and the like. Although he was brilliant and had a great memory, Dad knew hundreds if not thousands of people, so this helped him not make a faux pas at lunch.

At these lunches, he’d spend most of his time just talking to the client about things that had nothing to do with advertising in Iron Age Magazine. They’d talk about sports, politics, people they knew. Eventually, he’d ask something like, “So, how are things at corporate going?” whereupon the client would say things were bad, a plant was closing, the union was causing trouble, or whatever. And then my father would pounce with some smart observation about what a competitor was doing or a bright side or what appeared to be insider knowledge of the client’s business. He’d offer options like, “Now, you could have a center spread in the February issue or we can hold off until May and we’d have the option of two full page ads flanked by two or four pages of editorial on your new processing technology.”

No matter how much the client complained about how times were tough, he bought. After a few lunches like this, I finally got up the nerve to ask my Dad why the guy bought space if his company was in trouble. And I’ll never forget the incredulous look on his face as if that question would never occur to him.

“Well, he HAS to buy,” Dad said. “How else is he going to make money if he doesn’t advertise?”

The U.S. economy as a whole today looks a lot like the U.S. steel industry did back then. In times like this, smart companies continue or step up their advertising and marketing efforts not only to retain market share but also to capture customers from their less wise competitors.

When was the last time you saw a positive story about the economy? I can’t remember. If you have feel welcome to send it along — I’d love to read it. I was struck the other day at the depth of our economic crisis while watching, of all things, SportsCenter.

It caught me off guard, I usually watch ESPN to get away from stories about the plunging Dow, soaring unemployment rates, deficit spending and low housing starts, among other topics. But I’ve been paying attention to it more since the Worldwide Leader in Sports started covered it. Now the tables have turned and CNBC is talking about sports (from a financial angle of course). It’s not surprising that this economic crisis is hitting sports (yeah, tough to imagine when you hear about some of these ridiculous contracts being signed) what with declining revenues and the promise of new tax laws that don’t favor the super wealthy. And let’s face it, when times are tough, people don’t want to spend eight bucks on a Coke. 

Among the topics covered in the ESPN feature were:

• The cost cutting measures being taken by the University of Miami Football program (they’ll uses buses instead of planes for three games to save $150,000 next year ) 
• The Houston Astros pulling contracts off the table after they took a look at the projected revenues for the upcoming year. A couple players are wishing they signed sooner.  I hope Manny heeds the warning and signs that one year $25 million deal.
• Wayne Huizenga selling the Dolphins to avoid getting hit with a huge tax hit in 2009.
• Rodger Goddell taking a pay cut as a demonstration of the NFL’s commitment to reducing costs.
• The NBA laying off employees.
• The Yankees – yes, the Yankees – still having luxury boxes for sale in the new stadium. No, even the Bronx Bombers aren’t recession proof.

I know it’s tough to feel bad for the franchises, but at the end of the day, sports is big business – really big business. They aren’t immune either. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing. Through these difficult times perhaps some franchises will get back to their roots and focus on reconnecting with their fans. Ultimately some will and some won’t — that’s just the way it goes. Personally I’d be happy if the price of a water dipped below 5 bucks.

What is it with me and car manufacturers? I just wrote a post not long ago about Chrysler wasting money on some ads to thank us for bailing them out. Don’t worry, this post isn’t as angry, quite the opposite actually.

I was watching TV the other day and was struck by the new spot for Hyundai which touts their new Assurance program (“Assurance — Certainty in uncertain times”). Before the spot, I’ll be honest, I didn’t give any thought to the brand. (Truthfully, there are some others in the category I prefer.)

The Hyundai Assurance program basically allows people to return their car if they lose their income within the calendar year that they purchase the car. I couldn’t believe it despite the great voiceover by Jeff Bridges. He seems like the right guy to deliver the message – kudos to the agency who recommended him. Hyundai, as the spot outlines, had to overcome some issues about their quality when they first launched the brand here in the U.S. To do so, they introduced the best warranty in the industry (10 years, 100,000 miles) to demonstrate the quality of their vehicles.

I actually watched the ad a couple times before I checked the website to confirm that the fine print wasn’t so detailed and that the offer truly was a benefit to consumers. Mission accomplished. They got a consumer (me) to go online and learn more, and it proves that TV really does work.I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the program is set up to really help people out. It also allows buyers to return the vehicle in the event of a “loss of income,” but some other bad scenarios as well.

This new program is truly a sign of the times.  Marketers must recognize that things are a little different and consumers are looking for brands that understand their needs and concerns. Hyundai didn’t offer 0% financing or friends and family pricing, just assurance, which to me seems very appropriate at this time. They seem to be zigging when everyone else is zagging. I’m not certain if the program has been successful or how long they’ll run the promotion, but I think it is impressive and unique.

This economic climate has changed things and it’s nice to see some marketers step up and develop programs that benefit consumers in the short-term (with eyes on the long-term for themselves, of course). I’m pretty sure that if I bought a car and was able to return it, I’d return one day to the brand that helped me out during a tough time.

In the end, brands are about relationships and this program, I’m sure, will create some many new ones for Hyundai.