This week, Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor Tom Selleck will appear before national television audiences when the first commercial airs featuring him as a reverse mortgage spokesman for American Advisors Group (AAG).
The new TV spot, which began running across cable and national TV networks Monday, is titled “Too Good to Be True,” and features Selleck ambling room-to-room in a lofty apartment home, letting viewers know that reverse mortgage misperceptions are far from the truth.
“I know what you’re thinking. I thought what you thought: some things are just too good to be true,” Selleck says in the commercial’s opening seconds. “Just like you, I thought reverse mortgages had to have some kind of catch—just a way for the banks to get your house, right?”
After doing some research, Selleck admits that reverse mortgages were not the products he once thought they were.
(Click image to watch the commercial)
“It’s not another way for the bank to get your house,” he says. “It’s also not too good to be true.”
The 120-second commercial is part of AAG’s new marketing strategy that aims to correct common misperceptions about reverse mortgages and explain why home equity should be considered as another resource in the retirement income planning process.
“The spots show what we’ve known all along—that Tom Selleck connects extremely well with the camera, straight into America’s living rooms. And you’ll feel that within the first few frames of the ad,” said AAG Chief Creative Officer Teague McGrath in a press release.
“Stylistically speaking, we’ve taken more of a cinematic approach to draw attention to the message that reverse mortgages are more than they used to be, now offering greater financial security with new guidelines and policies in place,” McGrath said.
Selleck is the newest celebrity spokesman to appear in reverse mortgage marketing campaigns. Tapped by AAG to assume this role in June, Selleck is working with the company to increase awareness among senior homeowners that home equity should be considered as part of a comprehensive retirement planning strategy.
“The traditional approach to retirement planning—savings, Social Security and pension plans—is likely not enough for the more than 55 percent of Americans whose primary asset is home equity,” said AAG Chief Executive Office Reza Jahangiri. “We felt passionately that Tom Selleck is the voice Americans can trust to explain how a reverse mortgage can help fund longevity.”
The commercial will be followed by two additional TV ads packaged as both 60- and 120-second spots, according to AAG. Along with the ads, AAG has debuted a new tagline, “Bringing Stability to Your Retirement,” and created a new information kit that explains how home equity may be used in retirement planning.
AAG collaborated with agency partner Siltanen & Partners Advertising on the new campaign. This new commercial is slated to run across cable and national networks including ABC, NBC and CBS.
Written by Jason Oliva
