DULUTH — When advertisements for the romantic drama “White Palace” first appeared in the Duluth News Tribune in late October 1990, they showed actor James Spader kissing actress Susan Sarandon's cleavage as he pulled down her gown.
There was no nudity, but it was a bit too racy for some readers.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ted Heinonen, a former graphic designer in the News Tribune’s art department, said fellow designer Jill Bugbee addressed those concerns by editing more clothing onto Sarandon.
“She had attempted twice after we got complaints about the skimpy outfits. She kept trying to raise the blouse or whatever she was wearing, and we kept getting complaints,” Heinonen said. So it went to Heinonen, who raised the garment’s neckline even further.
By the fourth version, Sarandon was practically in a turtleneck, and Spader was biting a necklace she was wearing.
It didn’t stop the complaints.
“We just sort of continued and carried on because we saw it was ultimately becoming such a ridiculous farce,” Heinonen said.
Ultimately, Heinonen covered Sarandon in a parka and turned Spader into a snowman. He still has a copy of that version.
It was a ridiculous event that happened and we just had a little tongue-and-cheek fun with it.
He said he remembers the snowman version published in print; however, after reviewing nearly two months of microfilm, the News Tribune could not confirm that.
ADVERTISEMENT
Heinonen said the AMC Entertainment theater in Superior’s former Mariner Mall loved the extra attention gained from the edited ads.
The receding neckline caught eventually caught the eye of “The Tonight Show.”
Jay Leno, who was filling in for host Johnny Carson at the time, featured the ads in the “Headlines” segment, which showed viewer-submitted newspaper articles with odd headlines or mistakes.
As he pulled out four black cards each featuring a version of the ad, he described it as his “particular favorite” because he came from a small town.
“Duluth — not a tiny city — but this just makes me laugh,” Leno said.
He then went through each ad, and the crowd’s laughter built with each one. A drumroll preceded the reveal of the version where Sarandon is wearing a high-necked top.
Heinonen said he doesn’t know who sent the ads to Leno.
ADVERTISEMENT
“That’s still a mystery,” Heinonen said. ”And quite frankly, whoever did it, I applaud them. It was a ridiculous event that happened and we just had a little tongue-and-cheek fun with it.”
Bruce Ojard, of Duluth, uploaded the Leno clip to YouTube in 2016. As of late May, it has more than 11,000 views.
The 1990 News Tribune article on the Leno appearance noted the “White Palace” ads were “hardly more scandalous than the weekly ads for the Club Saratoga’s Vegas-style floor shows.”
Coincidentally, the Canal Park strip club was featured in Leno’s “Headlines” segment years later for an ad that read, “Attention: Our ad requesting Pole Dancers did NOT require applicants to be of Polish descent.”
The News Tribune’s coverage of the 1990 Leno segment also noted its handling of the “White Palace” ads was parodied by Colder by the Lake, a local comedy theater company.
In 1990, Brian Matuszak, now executive producer of Rubber Chicken Theater, was an actor and writer for Colder by the Lake.
“All we did was point out how ridiculous the News Tribune was … as far as I remember, we didn’t take that and turn it into a full-blown sketch more than we just introduced the (Jay Leno) clip,” Matuszak said, adding that Ojard was involved in the Colder by the Lake as well and likely provided the clip back in 1990 before digitizing it and uploading it to YouTube 26 years later.
ADVERTISEMENT
The ad’s controversy and the News Tribune’s response inspired a column by Jim Heffernan, then the paper‘s editorial page associate. He jokingly said it was a sign of “the decay of American society.”
“It’s all part of the trashing of American society brought on by widespread use of the electric guitar,” Heffernan wrote in 1990.
The Trust Project
