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April 3, 2008
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AT&T Pulls Harry Caray Ads After Widow Calls Them "Offensive"

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AT&T last weekend pulled a series of ads featuring actor-comedian John Caponera impersonating late Cubs announcer Harry Caray that "drew the ire of Dutchie Caray, Harry's widow," according to Dave Hoekstra of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Dutchie Caray: "The ads were poorly done. They were in-your-face and they were running all the time. After the first time I saw the commercial I could hardly sleep." AT&T stopped running the ads "in respect for [Dutchie's] concerns" and apologized to her. Caponera, who has been "doing a spot-on impersonation" of Caray since '82, said, "The ads were meant to be fun and unoffensive. Do you think we would do these if there was malice behind it? Harry was a friend of mine. I told these guys from the start I wasn't going to be like Will Ferrell on ('Saturday Night Live') where they made [Caray] look like he was senile." AT&T said in a statement, "The Caray estate approved these ads and we initially believed that Dutchie Caray was part of that process. We learned that wasn't the case and have reached out to Mrs. Caray to apologize for any misunderstanding" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/2).

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