Elmer Lynn Hauldren (April 1, 1922 – April 26, 2011) was an advertising copywriter based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

who was best known for originating the Empire Man.

Early life and career

Hauldren was born in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, one of four children born to Elmer Lynn and Frances Mary Camilla (née Ryan) Hauldren. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served as a radio operator in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

along the

Burma Road The Burma Road () was a road linking Burma (now known as Myanmar) with southwest China. Its terminals were Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. It was built while Burma was a British colony to convey supplies to China during the Second Sino-J ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. While delivering supplies along the road, Hauldren's unit came under fire. When Hauldren visited the area in 2005, he was greeted as a hero by locals. Following the war, Hauldren was a copywriter at

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of ...

, Bozell Jacobs and

DDB Needham DDB Worldwide Communications Group LLC, known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies. The international advertising networks ...

.Ramirez Margaret (April 27, 2011)
Elmer Lynn Hauldren, 1922-2011
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' He later founded his own firm, Lynn Hauldren Creative. During the course of his career in advertising, he won 2 Clio awards. Lynn Hauldren was married to Helen Helmke Hauldren and they had six children, 15 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. Three of his grandchildren are the tenor

Matthew Polenzani Matthew Polenzani (born 1968) is an American lyric tenor. He has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Royal Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vienna State Opera, and San Francisco Opera, among others. He ...

, the singer-songwriter

Rose Polenzani Rose Polenzani (born March 7, 1975 in Waukesha, Wisconsin) is an American folk musician. She was raised in the Chicago area and attended Knox College before leaving to pursue a singing career. She is currently living in Boston, Massachusetts. S ...

, and Robert Hauldren of

Louis the Child (DJs) Louis the Child is an American electronic music group consisting of Robby Hauldren and Frederic J. Kennett. Career Robert David Hauldren was born on September 7, 1996 to David and Julia Hauldren. He attended one academic year at the University ...

. In 1977, Hauldren was working on the Empire Carpet account and could not find an actor the company approved of for the role of The Empire Man in a commercial scheduled to be shot. Instead, then company owner Seymour Cohen asked Hauldren to play the role of The Empire Man himself. The Empire Man character appeared in most commercials for the company from 1977 to 2011. The company also issued a limited edition bobble-head doll of the character. By the 2000s, Empire switched from live-action commercials to CGI, with Hauldren continuing to provide voice-overs. Hauldren also wrote the tune used to accompany the singing of the company's phone number, and recorded the

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

with an acappella group, The Fabulous 40s. The famous Empire Today advertising jingle ''(eight hundred, five-eight-eight, two, three-hundred Empire!)'' has made the Empire Today phone number one of the most recognized numbers in the country. Hauldren recorded several albums with the barbershop quartet Chordiac Arrest including ''Live and Well'' and ''Second Opinion''. The group also released a live performance video entitled ''Chordiac Arrest! The Video''. In 2007 Hauldren formed a new vocal quartet called Chordplay that has appeared on television. In 2005, Hauldren appeared in a comedic short video for the stage show, ''Big Time Tonight'', written by comedian Landon Kirksey and directed by Jeremy Dionisio. The video features Kirksey's character entering a bar and receiving sage-like advice from Hauldren himself. He was known to say of himself "I don't own the company, I can't install carpet, and I'm not an actor." When asked for autographs, he'd reply "I'm not an actor or a celebrity. I'm a pitchman; a glorified salesman."

Death

Hauldren died on April 26, 2011, in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, at the age of 89, twenty five days after his eighty ninth birthday.

References

External links

Empire Today

Empire Carpet Man
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauldren, Lynn 1922 births 2011 deaths American male composers American composers United States Army personnel of World War II American copywriters People from Evanston, Illinois Place of birth missing United States Army soldiers