By T'Bonz
January 3, 2008 - 11:11 PMTen years ago, William Shatner beat out Bill Cosby for the role of Priceline spokesperson.
As reported at CNN and The Los Angeles Times, William Shatner is celebrating ten years as the voice of Priceline. He was selected over Cosby because he was more futuristic and, says Brett Keller, chief marketing officer of Priceline, "Anyone holding a credit card aged 18 to 95 had heard of William Shatner and knew who he was."
Earlier in his career, Shatner had turned down commercials, "because they lacked purity or art". Changing his mind and doing the Priceline commercials may have helped his own career. "It's possible that when I was being amusing in these commercials, David Kelly saw them and brought me to mind for a part in 'Boston Legal'," he said.
Shatner's first Priceline commercials were hits and were even parodied on Saturday Night Live. Priceline was "propelled...from a second- or third-tier brand to a top-tier brand with extremely high brand awareness," said Brett Keller. More than 90% of people surveyed had heard of Priceline.
Shatner doesn't use the site himself however, he told the L.A. Times, because it doesn't sell first-class airline tickets.
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