The iconic star Audrey Hepburn has recently made a return to our screens. In Italy the flawless actress seduces her audience with her signature flirtatious glances and cheeky smile, winning over the heart of an Italian stranger. One is taken in by her charm and serenity as she is whisked away in an open-top car over the Italian mountains to the overture of “Moon River”. This is quite a performance, considering the star has been dead twenty years.

Galaxy’s new TV advert starring the deceased icon is in many ways something to be applauded. The CGI used to recreate Hepburn is quite frankly a triumph; at a first glance the likeness is so similar anyone might mistake this for the real deal.  The animators capture Hepburn both beautifully and tastefully.  So why is it so unnerving?

Watching Dior’s advert for their perfume J’Adore Dior brings to life similar feelings of unease. It shows model Charlize Theron, late for the catwalk, rushing through the elegant turmoil of a fashion show. Amongst the glitz are classic icons Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich and the symbol of allure and glamour, Marilyn Monroe, all endorsing Dior’s perfume in high-quality animation. A Daily Mail journalist commented that the inclusion of these long dead actresses succeeded in “lending their weight to the chandeliered opulence.” It’s true; the inclusion of such film and beauty legends gives Dior an air of authority. However, it’s incredibly saddening that Kelly, Dietrich and Monroe, like Hepburn, are reduced to merely brands, used to add “weight” to Dior’s commercial image.

The most disconcerting aspect of these posthumous appearances is perhaps the subject matter and context around them. In 2007 Bob Monkhouse appeared in an advert promoting awareness of prostate cancer, the reason for his death in 2003. He is reincarnated, depicted making jokes at his own graveside and it’s difficult to know whether this is disturbing or fitting given the upsetting subject matter. However, the comedian’s relationship with the issue makes his resurrection far more acceptable: Monkhouse’s image has been used to help save people’s lives, not just to promote a bar of chocolate. It is fairly unquestionable that he would be supportive of a campaign which might have prevented his death, but who knows if Galaxy would have been Hepburn’s snack of choice? Is it right for Monroe’s image to be used to endorse Dior, when the film star confessed to sleeping in nothing but Chanel No.5?

Posthumous endorsement isn’t new; Monroe represented Chanel in the 1980s in a television advert, and Hepburn fronted a Gap campaign in 2006. What has changed however is the method. Gap used snippets from the film Funny Face, whereas Galaxy recreated her in 3D. Interestingly, Galaxy refrains from using speech in the advert, but naturally one can assume this is the next step: Monroe gasps “Dior” whilst posing with the perfume bottle. The technology is already in place, as only last year a hologram of Tupac performed alongside Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, using newly created phrases such as “What up, Coachella?” Disturbingly the festival began three years after the rappers death.

This also begs the question of who is profiting from the use of these images? Hepburn’s sons have both ostensibly supported and profited from the use of their mother’s image by Galaxy, but is it right for a mass corporation to enjoy the same benefits? Authentic Brands Group bought the rights to Marilyn Monroe’s estate and image in 2011, for a rumoured $30 million dollars, so we can only assume that all profits from her posthumous appearances go to them.

At what point does seemingly harmless endorsement become the stripping of an icons identity? I can’t help but worry that things have already been taken too far, and with technology only becoming more advanced, the dead are only becoming more and more accessible. It would be no suprise to see Elvis on TV in few month’s time, persuading masses to buy hair wax. How long will it be before a hologram of Bridget Bardot is the new point of sale at Boots, endorsing Tampax? How much further are we willing to let posthumous advertising go?

Sammy Gooch