John Lennon Advertises OLPC

Former Beatle John Lennon might have been dead for 28 years, but digital magic lets him appear in an ad for One Laptop Per Child.

Being dead isn’t necessarily a handicap to appearing on TV. John Lennon, the iconic former Beatle, was shot dead in New York in December 1980, but digital technology means he’s back on small screens appearing in an ad for One Laptop Per Child (OLPC).

OLPC, formed in 2005, aims to provide poor children around the globe with cheap, solar-powered laptop computers. One way of doing this is making them available commercially under the “Give One Get One” system by which customers pay for two machines, one of which is given to a child.

Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, has given her blessing to the ads, for which broadcasters have donated airtime, and which will also appear on YouTube. In the ad, Lennon says:

"Imagine every child, no matter where in the world they were, could access a universe of knowledge."

"They would have a chance to learn, to dream, to achieve anything they want. I tried to do it through my music, but now you can do it in a very different way."