If you watch television, you might have seen two separate advertisements -- one for high-end LCD televisions and the other for solar panels -- but both are from the same company, Sharp Electronics Corp USA. This summer they began a major advertising campaign for both products, as unrelated as they might seem, as life changing products. Both feature a curious white-haired academician expounding the virtues of Sharp's wares.
The LCD television commercial starts like this, (video)
Seems like you need to be a physics professor to choose the right TV. Luckily, I am one. ...while the solar panel pitch begins, (video)
I'm an astrophysicist, a star gazer, but here's something cosmic I discovered on earth, ...
Both commercials are narrated by a flaxen-haired, well-dressed man, identified by the caption "Professor Gerard Fasel, Astrophysicist." Who is this man? Is he really an astrophysicist? Read on, you may soon know him better as "Albino Security Guard."
Dr. Fasel is indeed listed on the faculty at Pepperdine University as a "Visiting Professor." His college biography lists courses taught in physics, mathematics and astronomy. He also appears to have teaching ratings at ratemyprofessors.com for the years 2003-2008, so we can assume he has been teaching at least part-time for most of that period of time.
However, according to Dr. Fasel's list of publications in the subjects of physics and astrophysics, his last publication of any sort was in 1995, or 13 years ago. The article, "Dayside poleward moving auroral forms: A statistical study," was published in the respected Journal of Geophysical Research. During his academic hayday of 1992-1995, he published a total of four refereed publications, either as primary author or co-author. All of these publications regard the study of terrestrial aurora, which is in essence a study of the interaction between the solar wind, earth's magnetosphere, and upper atmosphere. By the way, the phenomenon of terrestrial aurora, while very interesting, has virtually nothing to do with what I would call astrophysics, nor with solar-electric power.
But Fasel is much more than an academic! Dr. Fasel's acting career, as listed by IMDB has shown much more activity. In the past six years he has had four significant acting parts, both in television and movies. His next role will be in the movie The Truth About Angels, due out in 2009, where he plays the coveted albino security guard role. I'm sure Rutger Hauer is howling mad that some physicist beat him to the punch!
Sharp Electronics is proud of its spokesperson. In a press release on July 14th, 2008, announcing their campaign, they wrote,
... The commercial will feature Professor Gerard Fasel, a visiting professor of math and physics at Pepperdine University. With a PhD in Physics and a sophisticated and engaging persona, Professor Fasel lends a scholarly credibility to the new solar and LCD commercials.The important words here are "lends a scholarly credibility." Based on his scientific publishing record, my opinion is that Dr. Fasel is no longer an active researcher in science, and indeed has spent more time acting in the past decade than publishing research papers. I think it's pretty clear that he is not an astrophysicist, since none of his articles discussed astrophysics. For that matter, he has not published work related to solar physics, televisions or solar panel technology either. I don't doubt that Sharp took the time to give Dr. Fasel a tour of the manufacturing plant and its technology development labs, and Fasel probably has a reasonable understanding and appreciation of the physics that goes into the technologies that he is advertising. But judging by his research and teaching history, I doubt that he has any better skill choosing a television or a solar panel than your average Joe Sixpack.
In my opinion, he is simply an actor -- a spokesmodel -- hired by an advertising firm and used to make the company's technology seem more credible. They hired him for his interesting looks, his personality, and yes, the three letters "Ph.D." at the end of his name. Couldn't they just have easily hired him to do a commercial for medicine? Hmm, I think I could write the script...
EXPERT: Seems like you need to have a Ph.D. to understand cold remedies these days. Luckily I have one. ...Oh Dr. Fasel, will you star in my commercial?
(Photo credits: lifechangingbox.com; Sharp Corporation, 2008)
26 comments:
Where is he visiting from? Reminds me of a young Christopher Walken in that first photo in front of the sun. I don't think Rutger Hauer has to worry too much!
You want my honest opinion? I think he's visiting from Hollywood movie sets.
His agent probably pitches him to casting agents as, "it's Rutger Hauer channeling Christopher Walken!" Or maybe the other way around
Dude, I was wondering about this guy. Thanks for doing the legwork ("fingerwork"? since your "work" involved using the inter-web more than anything else?)
"Net-zer-cise?"
great post! here i am trying to enjoy the final ALCS game and he's repeatedly creeping me out in my own house.
You really shouldn't be so harsh on him. He has a PhD from the oldest (and I think most well known) school in Norway, Oslo.
As far as insinuating he isn't an "astrophysicist" by arguing the interaction of the solar corona with the upper atmosphere isn't astrophysics... please.
Yes, he hasn't published anything that shows up on arxiv or adsabs since 95, and he seems to have landed in a "non-tenure but you stay here forever" teaching position at Pepperdine, but situations like that aren't really so uncommon. The papers he does have online are clearly astrophysics, and are on the main astro preprint server. It appears he published them while at the Univ of Alaska, which is pretty much focused on geophysics and space science.
It's clear he counts as an astrophysicist, but he's pretty inactive in research now. No reason to hate.
@Ian, I'm not sure I follow your point. Yes, Fasel graduated from a prestigious university in Norway. Yes, he's an instructor at Pepperdine. Yes, he published a few papers in the mid 1990s. I respect those things. But how in any way do these factors qualify him as an expert on solar panels or televisions? It doesn't in my opinion.
Sharp could have sought real solar power or LCD experts as spokespeople, but they didn't, because Fasel is a more attractive person, and can act. My point still stands: today, he is more of an actor than a published researcher.
Finally, the study of aurorae is definitely not astrophysics. You will find these papers in geophysics or space physics journals, and not astronomy/astrophysics journals. Again, why would Sharp designate Fasel an "astrophysicist?" The answer is, it enhances the appearance of credibility as a "solar" (power) expert.
You know, I think YOU should play an astro-physicist on TV. Have you thought about this next step in your career?
If big pharma needs someone to endorse their Viagra-Rogaine super-pill, then I'm their man.
I am suddenly imagining a viagra-rogaine combo...
How very disturbing.
Right. Side effects may include rigid scalp and shaggy boys.
"shaggy boys"?
There is nothing for me to add.
I had Dr. Fasel for astronomy at Pepperdine. I don't know how much he knows about LCD TVs, but he is a genius. I couldn't understand most of what he talked about in class.
That doesn't mean he's a genius. It could mean you're a buffoon.
It could also mean that Dr. Fasel does not care very much about teaching (according to some of his RateMyProfessor comments he cancels class often), or that he never had the opportunity to see really good physics, math or astronomy teaching modeled. His Ph.D. programme was in Norway and it does not emphasize the skills needed to teach these subjects, but rather the skills needed to pass exams and participate in research. Looking for a CV on this guy is a dead end; and like other astrophysicists I wondered why I had never heard of him.
Found your blog whilst looking at Gerard's publications - he is a very pleasant colleague who has chosen to devote his academic career to teaching [hence the 'visiting' or non-tenure track position]. In addition to his full-time teaching load, he has been the sole caretaker of his elderly mother who's declining health led to her passing this past year. He also cares for his brother who has Down syndrome, and thus his acting career is at least third on his list of priorities. While he is not an active research physicist, he surely is a highly trained physcist who certainly knows what he is talking about in the Sharp commercials. I personally wish him the best in his acting career - it certainly pays better than being a teaching professor!
doug swartzendruber
professor of biology
pepperdine university
@prof swartzendruber: Wow, you paint a very sympathetic picture. I'm am willing to believe you, that Dr. Fasel is a kind and caring person. But what does that have to do with Sharp Electronics paying a geologist to appear as an astrophysicist, or as an expert on televisions or solar panels? What research or teaching has Fasel done on LCD televisions or solar panels?
I suppose if the person hired to be the spokesmodel for Sharp had been "just" an actor, I would have said, "harumph, that's just corporate marketing doing what it always does." But in this case, a corporation hired a professed scientist to claim titles and expertise that he appears not to have.
Science is supposed to involve the objective and logical evaluation of facts. I believe that scientists are held in high esteem and credibility by much of the world in part because of this adherence to methodology. When money gets in the way of methodology, it harms the credibility of science and scientists.
He says Sharp did the first LCD calculator, but then he holds up what appears to be an old LED calculator. Good thing he isn't a medical doctor.
Actually I appreciate Dr. S's comments and I think it is time for you to get over yourself. I hope someday you become more than just your Ph.D in whatever. Dr. Fasel has chosen to embrace acting as well which shows that he is more than a one trick pony such as yourself. And with acting I am sure he will do well in many other ways. Time to grow up now, get your head out of the dark place and embrace your humanity
Bob
how sad that you have nothing better to do than stick your nose into others peoples lives. I am Dr. Fasel's TA at Pepperdine, and have been for the last 2 years. Actually, he is an astrophysicist and is actively involved in the science community. How many scientific papers have you published ever in your LIFE? You really shouldn't rely on the internet for all your information, and you especially should not assume that the information that you do find is correct. Find something better to do, please.
@daniella, thanks for replying. The NASA Astrophysics Data System is a definitive source to professionals searching for astronomy research articles. The same applies to acting profiles on Internet Movie Database. It's hardly nosing into somebody's life to search those public databases. In fact, Dr. Fasel was the one who put himself out in the public as an astrophysicist and expert on solar panels and televisions. If scholarly work by Fasel on astrophysics, solar panels or LCD televisions were drawn to my attention - or if factual errors were found in the article - I would gladly correct the article.
i actually had him as a professor at pepperdine. very funny to see him on TV
I was also a TA for Dr. Fasel at Pepperdine and got to know him very well during my time there. Sure, he may not have a million publications like some researchers out there, but that alone does not indicate that he has never DONE the research itself, or that he is not well-educated and qualified. As Dr. S said above, sometimes family and other LIFE issues can take priority and I always thought so highly of Dr. Fasel for the care he provided for his family. He has done an immense amount of research in the fields of physics, astrophysics, geophysics, etc. but due to certain circumstances, was never able to sit down and actually produce manuscripts of all his data for publication. Unlike some researchers, however, he is okay with that, because he took the time to do things that mattered to him, such as spend time with his family and yes, even pursue a side career in acting. How that man balanced so many things, I will never know!
Maybe the sheer number of publications makes an individual fit for a role as a spokesman in your book but I don’t think the number of publications necessarily says anything. Truthfully, any researcher can publish his/her data in a lesser-known journal and thus have an additional “publication” to add to a list. That doesn’t make them more qualified. Could Sharp have gone out and found an astrophysicist with a huge list of publications for their commercials? Sure. But I don’t think that discredits the man they DID choose for the role. Anyway, Dr. Fasel is a wonderful person who taught me a lot during college and after reading your blog I felt compelled to say something about him. I will also add that seeing him on TV in the commercials was a total kick—he has worked very hard and it made me happy to see him on TV!
Oh I forgot- the links to his videos in your blog aren't working for me-- I was trying to find his commercials online but no luck...would you happen to know the new links or if they've been taken down? If not no worries, I just thought I would ask. Thank you so much!
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This guy creeps me out whenever they show his commercial. I can't help but feel slimy when his creepiness engulfs my living room with his presence.
With his fish lips and coiffed white hair, the guy looks more like a Bond villain more than a spokesperson.
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