Dennis Singletary
We tend to think that company spokespeople get a better deal in showrooms than the rest of us. For example, GM gave Tiger Woods a free ride -- many of them, in fact -- when he was Buick's shill. And although we can't say for sure, we have to believe that Mike Rowe gets more than a firm handshake when he wanders into his local Ford dealership.
But such wasn't the case for actor Dennis Singletary, who stars in a national commercial for Honda's "Really Big Deal" sales event. Singletary recently visited his local Honda dealership in LA to buy a 2011 Civic sedan and told the salesperson that he wanted the "Really Big Deal", which is basically a 0% downpayment, low finance rates, and $190 monthly note. The salesperson looked at the actor's credit score, gave him the thumbs-up, but didn't have the exact car he wanted, so Singletary jogged over to another dealership.
When Dealer #2 pulled Singletary's numbers, though, they said his credit score was 663 -- significantly lower than the 709 the first dealer reported. As a result, Dealer #2 wouldn't give him the "Really Big Deal", even after Singletary got Dealer #2 to call Dealer #1 and verify his credit score.
Next thing you know, Singletary pulled the "don't you know who I am?" routine. (That approach never works very well, and since Singletary isn't the company's official spokesperson, just an actor in a Honda commercial, his performance probably wasn't as convincing.) That put Dealer #2 firmly on the defensive, with no way for either to save face. Singletary stormed out and wrote a testy letter to Honda's corporate offices, and then he did what all struggling actors (and their agents) do: he notified the media.
We don't know where things stand at the moment, but since TMZ picked up the story, we expect to see Singletary cruising the streets of Los Angeles in a shiny new Civic very soon and Dealer #2 in possession of a firm reprimand.
For a refresher on Singletary's oeuvre, here's the "Really Big Deal" clip:
