News story

80+ Silver Hawks Star in National Tropicana TV Commerical

March 1, 2001 – Senior Softball-USA

Since the first 80+ teams played in the Senior Softball World Championships in 1997, they have epitomized some of the best aspects of the sport: healthy exercise, friendly competition, and an unmatched zest for life.

Now they are setting an example for America.

Five of the California Silver Hawks became instant celebrities after appearing in a Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice commercial that has been aired coast-to-coast for two months.

"Tropicana's brand essence is about life-giving qualities ˆ functional and healthy food that tastes good and picks you up," said Wendy Weiss, spokesperson for Ketchum, the public relations firm representing Tropicana. "Who better to represent the brand than people who do amazing things and are functional and healthy themselves?

"The Silver Hawks are 80-year-olds who are physically and emotionally fit people and set a terrific example for people everywhere," she said.

Tropicana's "Healthy Heart" commercial was shot as a 15-second and a 30-second TV spot and ran from Jan. 8 through Feb. 2 during both prime time and early morning hours. The spots ran a second time from Feb. 12-Feb.28 nationally.

Five members of the Silver Hawks appear in a dugout, clowning around -- and one player, Maurice Schlesinger, does a few impromptu dance steps. The commercial also included clips of a Gold Medal winner from the Senior Olympics, a national Tri-Athlete and a Gold Medal Olympic athlete Cathey Tryee with her two children.

"The new television ad ˆ using a take on the Damn Yankees show-tune "Ya Gotta Have Heart" - presents real people of different ages that are vibrant, healthy and passionate and are doing good for themselves through a devotion to wellness and proper nutrition," according to the Tropicana spokesperson.

The casting agency for Tropicana contacted DeWitt Hooks of the Silver Hawks and asked him to bring some teammates for a test shoot.

"They asked if I was interested in doing the commercial and asked me to bring a few teammates," said Hooks. "They said they were looking for 80+ players."

The players did the first shoot at Paramount Studios in southern California.

"It went great," said Hooks. "So they set up the commercial filming at Brookside Park in Pasadena. We were just clowning around in the dugout, passing around the orange juice and one of the guys started hamming it up and dancing ˆ they loved it."

The dancer was Schlesinger, the 80-year-old who gained fame by dying twice and being brought back to life ˆ both times on the ball field. Schlesinger recovered from his last heart attack and managed his team, the Southern California Angels, to the Senior Softball World Championships title in Winnipeg in September.