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

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

who was best known for portraying the Empire Man.

Early life and career

Hauldren was born Elmer Lynn Hauldren in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

on April 1, 1922, 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as a radio operator in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

along the

Burma Road The Burma Road () was a road linking Burma (now known as Myanmar) with southwest China. Its terminals were Lashio, Burma, in the south and Kunming, China, the capital of Yunnan province in the north. It was built in 1937–1938 while Burm ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. 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 was 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 2020 mer ...

, Bozell Jacobs and DDB Needham. He later founded his own firm, Lynn Hauldren Creative. During the course of his career in advertising, he won 2

Clio award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...

s. 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, 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. Sh ...

, 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 Universit ...

. 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 meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

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 makes a cameo appearance in the 1992 film ''

Wayne's World "Wayne's World" was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series ''Saturday Night Live''. The first "Wayne's World" sketch appeared in the 13th ''Saturday Night Live'' episode of the Saturday Night Live season 14, 1988–1989 seas ...

''. At the start of the film, a character pauses on one of Hauldren's ''Empire'' commercials while channel surfing. 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 in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, at the age of 89.

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 Writers from Evanston, Illinois Place of birth missing United States Army soldiers