Synthaholic
Diamond Member
Can I stop Phearing Tha Phred?
Law & Order: Mortgage Victims Unit (Starring Fred Thompson)
The actor/presidential wannabe's latest role: pitchman for a company charged with preying on the elderly.
By Andy Kroll
For six years, former presidential hopeful Fred Thompson played Arthur Branch, the gruff, straight-shooting district attorney in the television series Law and Order. Thompson's character had an unflinching commitment to the letter of the law. The same can't be said for a firm that Thompson has been pitching for lately in TV ads: a mortgage company that's landed in hot water in a half-dozen states for allegedly preying on elderly Americans and, in some cases, violating state law.
This spring, Thompson, a jowly ex-GOP senator from Tennessee, signed on to serve as the national spokesman for American Advisors Group (AAG). In an ad for the company, Thompson stands in front of a charming white house with an American flag flying out front and sings the praises of a lesser-known mortgage product called a reverse mortgage: "Join hundreds of thousands of other Americans who have used a reverse mortgage as a safe, effective financial tool," he implores viewers.
Thompson's new employer, however, has a troubled track record. Regulators in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington State have cracked down on the firm for deceptive marketing and consumer fraud. In February, for instance, the Illinois attorney general, Lisa Madigan, sued AAG and its president for direct-mail solicitations that Madigan described as "extremely misleading." That same month, the state of Massachusetts temporarily banned the company from doing business in the state.
*snip*
More at the link, including Thompson's other shady spokeman deals.
You Regressives sure know how to pick 'em!
Law & Order: Mortgage Victims Unit (Starring Fred Thompson)
The actor/presidential wannabe's latest role: pitchman for a company charged with preying on the elderly.
By Andy Kroll
For six years, former presidential hopeful Fred Thompson played Arthur Branch, the gruff, straight-shooting district attorney in the television series Law and Order. Thompson's character had an unflinching commitment to the letter of the law. The same can't be said for a firm that Thompson has been pitching for lately in TV ads: a mortgage company that's landed in hot water in a half-dozen states for allegedly preying on elderly Americans and, in some cases, violating state law.
This spring, Thompson, a jowly ex-GOP senator from Tennessee, signed on to serve as the national spokesman for American Advisors Group (AAG). In an ad for the company, Thompson stands in front of a charming white house with an American flag flying out front and sings the praises of a lesser-known mortgage product called a reverse mortgage: "Join hundreds of thousands of other Americans who have used a reverse mortgage as a safe, effective financial tool," he implores viewers.
Thompson's new employer, however, has a troubled track record. Regulators in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington State have cracked down on the firm for deceptive marketing and consumer fraud. In February, for instance, the Illinois attorney general, Lisa Madigan, sued AAG and its president for direct-mail solicitations that Madigan described as "extremely misleading." That same month, the state of Massachusetts temporarily banned the company from doing business in the state.
*snip*
More at the link, including Thompson's other shady spokeman deals.
You Regressives sure know how to pick 'em!