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The Dominic Theory
"If people really believe hard enough that some¬ thing will happen, it will." So says Jack Eagle, a.k.a. Brother Dominic, who has seen a miracle wrought in his own life after 20 moderately successful years as musician and Borscht-Belt comedian.
As Xerox Corporation's favorite monk. Eagle cast his eyes appreciably heavenward as his abbott declared, "It's a miracle" in a 1975 commercial extolling the virtues of the model 9200 copier. Eagle's miracle was bilateral: an unexpected upsurge in sales for the new model and stardom for him. Seven years, six commer¬ cials, and 26 advertising awards later. Eagle continues in his role as the Xerox public relations campaign continues.
At Long Last Luck
The copier's principle (called electrophotography) was discovered by Chester Carlson in 1937. He de¬ veloped the first working machine in 1949 called a XeroX, after the Greek "xerography," or "dry writing." Ten years later, he perfected the sophisticated 914, an immediate seller, and by 1961 the Xerox Corporation ranked among the Fortune 500.
Carlson contributed over $100 million to founda¬ tions and charities, and Xerox became the first large corporation to bring socially relevant programming to prime-time TV. From the very beginning, the company established a humanitarian image. When the new 9200 was developed, Xerox needed an advertising campaign to both "show its stuff" and retain the image. (Com¬ pared to the original 914's seven copies a minute, the 9200 could make 120 copies per minute, plus sort and collate.) Management wanted to let everyone know— employees, the financial community, stockholders— about the machine's high-tech capabilities. The Need- ham, Harper & Steers agency came up with the storyboard. All that was lacking was the right face. Enter Jack Eagle.
The public's reaction was pure "gestalt." The phenomenon—dubbed the "Brother Dom Phenom"— was so integrated that the whole became much more than its sum. Take Jack Eagle, please. TV Guide (March 11,1978) quotes Lois Korey, creative director at Need- ham, as saying, "We knew immediately that we had what we wanted when he walked in. He had what you look for in a monk—a warm, pleasant, kind of semi- ethereal look. He looked so loveable you wanted to hug him. There he was, a Jewish monk from Brooklyn, and the reaction was instantaneous. A star was born."
In the August 1982 Madison Avenue, Eagle explained the acting problem of that first commercial.
"You know, it took a lot of practice, trying to find the right way to behave; no one ever used a religious fig¬ ure before so this was virgin territory, you should excuse the expression."
Success was inevitable. Contrasting a cold, imper¬ sonal machine with the monk's warmth was a pleasant surprise, a refreshing originality. No wonder the ad earned, among others, the CLIO, advertising's equiv¬ alent to the Emmy. Promotional appearances at trade shows, charity events, hospitals and universities are still evolving.
Brother Cholesterol
Others noticed that face's appeal. Eagle has appeared as Mr. Cholesterol (IVi years), in Gillette TRAC II, Carefree gum, and Hertz commercials. But with Xerox he's become so progressively busy that there's now no time for anything else: 226 days on the road last year in public relations and 190 this year.
He appeared, courtesy of the Purdue Marketing Club, in the Krannert auditorium on October 28 to spread good will and explain advertising and market¬ ing techniques. "I'm not just an actor or PR represen¬ tative," he stated. "Brother Dominic is an image that people associate with Xerox. It's amazing what you can do with humor. Brother Dom is a loveable character who brings joy to people and makes them laugh. If you can make people laugh, then you're way ahead of the game."
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