I just saw this commercial and it made me sick. I can't even watch Poltergeist without cringing over that poor beautiful baby girl dying. But who came up with this awful idea.

And to see Craig T. Nelson profiting from that disgusts me. I will never be a fan of his again. I can't believe he doesnt have more respect for her family and for her memory. Certainly he can't be so financial busted up that he has to resort to this.

I feel the same as Mike, except didn't her family have to agree for her to be shown?

i have kept saying the same thing over and over again. i was highly disappointed in my man craig.
very awkward.
inappropriate.

you'll are just gay, why don't you all just get together for a nescafe moment and pour your hearts out to eachother...the girl died like 26 years ago...we all die...get over it....if i had made a movie with the success of poltergeist and 25 years later they are still showing it i would perfer it better then it just being in dvd format on someone else's book case...even if i did die...that's how we become legendary

I'm not sure what sexual preference has to do with finding a TV commercial slightly exploitive, but... I respect your highly intelligent and well thought out argument. Of course the movie's legendary. It's one of my all time favorites. I just never thought when I first saw it 20 years ago that that deceased little girl would end up in a commercial for cable TV.

it's a little odd seeing her there, but it's not like the commercial is mocking her tragic passing..at least IMO.

You want to see "in bad taste" watch Everlast's video for his cover of "Folsom Prison Blues." You will then understand that this could be a lot worse.

Get over it... it is a commercial so who cares?

Oh My God, they're using that poor baby girl and she's no longer here to defend herself from the outrageous exploitation. Geez people, get over it.

Im' sure her parents were paid well. So, I really doubt they feel it was done in bad taste.

Hello, The girl didn't die IN the movie...she died from a heart attack, of natural causes...this commercial shouldn't make you sick, Natalie Cole and her father Nat King Cole doing a duet of Unforgettable should make you sick...Selena and her brother singing together years after she was murdered should make people sick, and that list kinda goes on...and besides, "Carol Ann" is a character that Heather O'Rourke played, I really don't see bad taste of the commercial...

it is a commercial and so what she is dead it is not a bad thing im glade she is dead so she doesnt have to live in this horrible world

You know, this doesn't surprise me at all. I've felt disgusted with Dish's commericials for a couple of years now. How much are they paying these actors? Couldn't they use cleaner commericials for less money and lower the bills a bit? This is just in poor taste.

I think this series of ads is pretty creative, but I do agree that this Poltergeist ad was a little too creepy and in poor taste. I however don't believe that most viewers (and potentially the creative team)are aware of the "poltergeist curse". It just really creeps me out. Craig T. should have said "no thanks" or remade one of his many other famous film roles like uhhhhhhh....well....???

This commercial is in very poor taste. Using a clip from deceased child actress's performance out of context for a joke to sell direct tv.....just ridiculous. The back to the future ad or terminator are neat but c'mon. Just wrong.

Think about it - when is the last time you thought about Heather O'Rourke? She did a great job in the film and I think it is something of an homage to her. I can see why someone would be upset. This is a way to remember her, even if it is a crappy commercial

This is not exploitation. Exploitation would be if a studio like WB released a movie like Dark Knight after an actor like Heath Ledger died. There's no denying that his death enhanced the box office for that movie. The reality is that her family had to approve this, so if they're okay with it, why aren't you.

Becuase using the image of a dead little girl to hawk satillite memberships is just fu*king wrong.
If her parents approved they must be cash strapped like everyone else. She was not an adult when she died so compareing her to steve McQeen or whomever is apples and cinder blocks. It's still sick and wrong.

The mother of the child gave approval that the ad be done. She felt it would be a way of honoring her daughter.

Deutsch creative in New York did the ad. His comments can be found here.

http://blog.infinitemonkeysblog.com/?q=node/5642

Scroll down to the producer's comments

I would bet her family needs the money. Otherwise I can't see why they would allow it. It could also be that their getting ready to releae a special disc compilation of poltergeist and this is a way of cross promoting.

Let's not assume one thing about the family or their financial situation.

Instead of going there, perhaps we could think of it in another fashion. Their child has been dead 20 years but now through pop culture she is remembered again.

Did you seriously just criticize the use of a dead person in a commercial? Not only is it hypocritical, but it is just downright out of place in this context. We use dead people in advertisements and to make a profit all the time. Let's see Elvis Presley, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Heath Ledger. Actors have estate representatives for a reason so that they are profittable and remembered after their dead. The fact that 25 years later she is remembered instead of someone no one has heard of is quite an accomplishment for a 12 year old. if you are going to complain about her family then i hope you are complaining about the 52 million Elvis made last year too.