Like many former athletes, New York Giant alumnus Brad Benson found a second career as a successful car dealer. Unlike most of them, however, he's made another name for himself as a filthy-minded, possibly unhinged radio pitchman.
Come on down to Brad Benson Hyundai in South Brunswick, New Jersey, this week and you can see Brad's "40 Foot Erection." That's the latest stunt/radio ad that several people have tipped us to this week. (The "erection" is actually a goal post from the old Giants Stadium that Benson bought and stuck in the front yard of his dealership.) It might seem pretty risky for a guy to rely on awful dick jokes to try and move Sonatas in this economy, but this is not even close to the weirdest or dirtiest Brad Benson commercial out there.
Fans of WFAN in New York (or "The Best Show On WFMU" with Tom Scharpling) are quite familiar with Brad's insane advertising techniques. Last year, he had a running series of ads where he vowed to give up sex until he became the No. 1 Hyundai dealer in America. The went over real well with his wife—especially the part where he said abstinence "doesn't exactly have the same impact" it did 26 years ago. When he's not talking about his sex life, Brad's other technique is to insert completely random political commentary into otherwise unrelated ads. Hey, let's talk about waterboarding!
He's also taken shots at Plaxico Burress, Eliot Spitzer, "Gay Americans", "Ol' Barack" and the CEOs of other car companies. But the one that made him famous, was his first radio ad in 2003, when he offered Saddam Hussein a free car if he voluntary left Iraq before the invasion. Isn't this exactly the kind of refreshing, no-holds-barred straight talk that you want from a guy trying to sell you an extended warranty plan? You just know that when a man is this comfortable making jokes about his johnson, you can trust him on the price of that sunroof package.
He's also close personal friends (they sort of talk on the phone!) with Lawrence Taylor and endorsements don't ring much louder than that. The casual swearing is a nice touch too.
Can you believe he writes his own material? Then again, he is the No. 1 Hyundai dealer in America and he's way more well-known for these ads than he ever was for playing football. Hey, maybe dick joke strategy is worth exploring....
Brad Benson Commercial Archive [You Tube]
Brad Benson's Got a Giant Erection [Couch Warmers]
Former Giant Wants to Show You His Giant Erection [Slanch Report]
Ex-Giant Brad Benson has become star pitchman on WFAN [Brad Benson Auto Group]
BradBenson AutoGroup (bradbenson_auto) on Twitter
The Best Show on WFMU with Tom Scharpling [Scroll To Oct. 6, 2009, 32:15 in, for Tom's Brad Benson talk]
[Photo via New York Daily News]