Arnold Palmer, Golfer and Pitchman

Golf Great Arnold Palmer Was Also a Pioneering Pitchman.  (The New York Times, 9/26/2016)

A non-speaking part. In a grainy black-and-white 1968 television commercial, Arnold Palmer steers a Mercury Monterey up to a golf course, nodding approvingly at the coupe’s smooth handling.

From no lines to 148 words.   From pitching a high-end Ford Motor product to General Motors' luxury model.

A few years later, Mr. Palmer was driving up to another course, this time in color, in a flashy Cadillac El Dorado.

For all his success on the golf course, where he won seven major titles, Mr. Palmer’s most enduring influence may be on the multibillion-dollar sports marketing industry. A pioneering businessman on two fronts, Mr. Palmer, who died Sunday at the age of 87, in many ways created the template for the modern entrepreneurial athlete.

The extended version of one of Palmer's final pitches.