Taking Advantage of the Dead and Mourning?

Did anyone else see this?

Something baseball fans will truly die for

October 19, 2006

BY PATRICK WALTERS

PHILADELPHIA -- Baseball fanatics won't have to leave behind their beloved teams when they finally go to that big stadium in the sky. Instead, they'll soon be able to rest in peace inside a coffin with team colors and insignia.

Major League Baseball has a marketing deal with a company called Eternal Image. It'll put team logos on caskets and urns. The effort begins next season with the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies and Dodgers. It could eventually include all 30 teams.

After starting with baseball, Eternal Image hopes to branch out by making similar deals with the NFL, the NHL and NASCAR.

"We have been receiving these requests either directly or through our clubs for several years," said Susan Goodenow, an MLB spokeswoman. "Passionate fans express their love of their team in a number of different ways."

Story continued below.

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Updated On: 10/20/06 at 10:09 PM

Something baseball fans will truly die for continued...

The National Funeral Directors Association is meeting in Philadelphia this week and giving its members a sneak peak of what the urns will look like. Eternal Image says urns for the six teams should be available by Opening Day 2007, and caskets for those teams should be ready later in the year. The products have not been made yet and the exact cost has not been set.

Kurt Soffe, a spokesman for the funeral association, said the MLB caskets are part of a trend of trying to capture "the life and the passions of the person that has passed away." At this year's convention, for instance, there was a Harley Davidson-themed casket and one featuring Betty Boop.

"More and more families are wanting to have something that respects the personalities," Soffe said.

AP

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oh sheesh.......

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Yes, Elphaba, "sheesh," indeed. The worst part is that I am sure this will sell.

The article also states: "The caskets and urns will feature recognition of the deceased’s passionate support, stamped with a message that says “Major League Baseball officially recognizes (person’s name) as a lifelong fan of (team).”

Can Broadway-themed coffins be far behind?

"This BWW member (YOUR NAME HERE) since (YOUR DATE OF REGISTRATION HERE) was a loyal fan of (YOUR FAVORITE SHOW HERE). He/she posted (YOUR NUMBER OF POSTS HERE) and was a (YOUR BWW RANKING HERE). Only (YOUR NUMBER OF DELETED THREADS HERE) of his/her threads were deleted over the COURSE OF HER TENURE, WHICH RAN FROM (number of years you posted, not just lurked)."

Personally, I would be happy if I were buried with a life-size image of George Clooney lining the inside cover of the coffin. I would enjoy spending eternity with George Clooney on top of me. Yes, I think I would.

Ha!

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The 'death industry' has always been riddled with scam artists who prey on the vulnerable in a time of extreme weakness. This is just one more angle amongst many.

DG, you are too right.

Penn & Teller's "Bull****!" had a great episode about funeral scams. Just cremate me. Please.

There were KISS Koffins five years ago.

Gene Simmons = Renaissance Man.

The problem is actually a much larger one. If we were not such a consumer society and if we did not believe that the acquisition of "things" is what brings us contentment, gimmicks like this would not work.

My brothers, father and I made all the funeral arrangements when my mother died. We were all pretty devastated by it (she was a fabulous person, died young and left a big void in many people's lives). When we went to the funeral home, my brothers wanted to buy the most "beautiful" (read: most expensive) casket available because they said that "Mom deserved it." At that time, the "best" coffin was about $8,000.

Here's the kicker: she was being cremated! I said, "It's going to be burned." At this point the funeral director explained that we could have a lovely stainless steel coffin in the funeral home during the wake "for everyone to see" and then we could purchase ANOTHER, wooden one for the cremation itself. (Cha-ching.)

My father and brothers were visibly depressed and vulnerable. They were letting the funeral director (aka "salesman") lead them down the road to eternal debt, when I stepped in. (BTW, I was just as devastated by my mother's too-early death to breast cancer, so don't think I'm a hard-a$$.)

We were in a gigantic room filled with coffins of various colors and "quality." Everytime the guy said, "This is our X model and it...." I would interrupt and say, "She's going to be cremated, so it has to be made only of wood."

Finally, all the way at the end of rows and rows of spectacularly displayed coffins, there were 2 wooden ones, unceremoniously erected. The director started going into his spiel about the differences between the coffins, when I politiely stopped him and said, "We just need the plainest one since it is going to be burned."

This was his annoyed response: "Fine. This is the cheapest one."

I turned to my dad and brothers and said, "It's going to be burned. It doesn't matter what it looks like. " (In case you were wondering, the "cheapest" was $1,800.)

In addition to being cremated, my mother's ashes were to be placed in a mausoleum, so the urn would never be seen by anyone. So, after trying to guilt us into buying a "fancy" coffin, when the funeral director went to show us the various urns they offered, he started by saying, "This is the cheapest one."

My one brother got upset. Pointing at another urn, he said, "Well, that one is really beautiful. Mom would like that one." "No one is ever going to see it. It's going to be behind a marble slab in the wall," I said.

I loved my mother and had a really wonderful relationship with her. I didn't feel that I needed to "buy" adornments of death to honor her nor did I equate those things with my love for her. I wrote and gave the eulogy, which was a much more meaningful way to express my feeling of loss for her. I also live my life in a way that is true to her spirit.

Sorry to go on and on, but the point is this: we have to stop thinking that stuff = happiness or respect or love. No marketing whiz would be able to "take advantage" of us if we knew that attachment to possessions is, in reality, an empty and meager substitute for inner peace.

Okay, I have to leave now because I'm going shopping.

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That's a great story, Miss P! Very similar to the scenario when my dad died. Luckily my brother-in-law has family "in the business" and knows the ins and outs (and true costs) of bury the dead. We approached the whole thing with common sense and a lot of knowledge. At one point, my brother-in-law had two funeral homes in competition, trying to 'best' each other for our business. My brother's comment: "I don't know whether to be pleased or appalled."

This from a funeral site:
The typical funeral with burial is about $7,000. A typical funeral with cremation, about$5,000. Immediate cremation, $1,000

Thank goodness Boobs has agreed to bury me in his back yard.

Considering the threat against the NFL stadiums, I thought this thread subject to be in slightly poor taste. The thread itself, however, is interesting.

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Sue, I actually don't know about the stadiums threat. Forgive me. I was using the Sixth Sense "slogan," as you probably know. I'll change the thread title if you think it's offensive.

SM2, very funny!

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One thing for sure, he wasn't impersonating Rodin's "The Thinker."

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