Karl Malden

Mladen Sekulovich.

That's Karl's birth name. No biggie. That kind of stuff happens all the time with celebrities. Just ask Vincent Furnier, Lawrence Turead, or even Allan Stewart Konigsberg.

So, why is that important? I will submit to you, dear reader, that Karl Malden's story is a story about branding. Were it not for his 25 year relationship with Ogilvy and American Express, today's passing of Mr. Malden (if that is your name) would be merely a footnote.

Sure, there was "Streetcar Named Desire." And "On the Waterfront." And "Patton." It's all very good. Indeed, excellent. But, I think it's fair to say that Karl owes his true relevance and exposure to my profession of choice, advertising.

Karl was the first person, sorry, the first actor to utter the words "Don't Leave Home Without It/Them." It became his calling card. I don't think you get away with such a positively straight forward tag line these days. But it worked. Again and again and again. It was classic FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt). It was like, "...holy shit, if I am in a foreign country and I don't bring this with me, and I lose my wallet...that's it, I'm never making it back."

Amex did the class move and issued a statement, albeit a vanilla one, about old Karl.

OK, so yet again, I went and hijacked a fellow human being's obituary for my own selfish purposes. But, I maintain that this is my frame of reference. Sure, I have seen the movies, but, ...close your eyes, when I say "Karl Malden" do you think "collar" or "hat?" Hat, of course. And, OK, I will give you the fact that this look was originated in the show "The Streets of San Francisco." But I still maintain that were it not for American Express Traveler's Cheques, Malden would be about 10% as famous.

I've belabored the point enough. Here is my favorite Malden tidbit. Karl was a major player in the postal service as a member of The Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee. These are the people who decide who gets on a stamp, which, in my opinion, is a pretty awesome gig. Karl was so influential and important to the group that he got a post office named after him. For my money, though, I'll always think of that office as Mladen Sekulovich Postal Station. Rolls off the tongue a little nicer, huh?