Six Flags - It's Playtime - long (2004) 0:60 (USA)

The Six Flags guy is making life a party! C'mon everybody!

Client: Six Flags

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Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
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AnonymousCoward's picture

I am not a real adgrunt, but I love your site. This happy, dancing Six Flags man looks to me like the old sitcom character Urkel in heavy make-up or a latex mask. I live in Texas and see these ads all the time. If any of you have access to more of these, multiple viewings will convince you. Even a "come on, folks" gesture, while leaning forward, exactly matches Urkel's style. I guess if this IS the same actor, this could lead to some discussions of race. It certainly makes me wonder if it's appropriate. Then again, I don't know for a fact that it's him. Be well, all.

Dabitch's picture

You aren't the only speculating that it might be Urkel - The washington times has an article about it:

Speculation about the person behind the tuxedo and oversized glasses clutters the Internet. Chat room and message board posters debate whether the character is really a young dancer in makeup or a talented old man. Some think the character is a well-known actor
AnonymousCoward's picture

Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one. And let me clarify- I don't think it's WRONG to disguise one's race, I just am not sure why anyone would want to, except in cases of obvious parody, as in "White Chicks" or the old Whoopi Goldberg movie in which she becomes a white man to make a point. Perhaps Jaleel feels that doing commercials is demeaning after being a sitcom star and doesn't want anyone knowing that he is doing commercials. It seems more demeaning, though, to oneself as a person, to take a job on the condition that you pretend to be something that you are definitely not, and for no one to ever know. It's not comedy or satire, it makes no point, unless the audience gets the joke. Then again, straight folk play gay in a myriad of movies- I think we have to KNOW the difference, though, between the actor and the character, for it to make a legitimate point. Doing so surrupticiously (sp?) seems to me a betrayal of one's identity, like a gay man taking a job wherin he must pretend to be straight so as not to be fired by a bigoted boss.

Dabitch's picture

Could also be Martin Short, who's done the "old geezer" kind of character before.

Today n ad age, Rance Crain says Mr Six is creepy and needs to "come clean" about his past..... ;)

Allan1's picture

On another site devoted to adverts, we discussed (several weeks ago) the question of whether it really was an old man, or a young man, or a young woman dancin' their fool heart out! Soon afterwards, Six Flags announced that it definitely was a male dancer - the age and identity of the dancer was still a secret.

My view is that it is a young guy with a bald cap and some other prosthesis - who is not a known person. Yes, some actions of the dancer resemble those of Jaleel "Urkel" White. However, Jaleel White grew up in that role, and literally grew out of it. He improved his body to the point where he could no longer look like the geek that Urkel was. For one thing, Jaleel is much taller than the dancer in the ads.

As to Martin Short doing it, it looks like his body-type - but I just don't think that it is him. (He'd just as likely would let people know who he was).