For a long time, conventional wisdom was that insurance advertising should play it straight.
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Why would the trustees risk such notoriety by failing to play it straight with Hank?
In fact, mean and dishonest people sometimes can find financial success more easily in business than those who play it straight.
Assuming you play it straight and don't have a high profile or huge losses, your chances of being hassled by the IRS are slimmer than ever.
Even when news stories play it straight down the "he says, she says, " line, who, as a parent, are you going to believe: the company protesting that its toy, usually assembled in China, is just fine and dandy, or the "watchdog" group warning that it's frighteningly dangerous and waving a test to prove it?
Thanks to director Barry Sonnenfeld, it is funny because the stars are encouraged to play it dead straight.
Even now, he believes broadcast obits, which go out straight away, tend to play it safer than print obits, which go out a day later and are more likely to look at the pros and cons of a person's character.
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It was unbelievable that he allowed Porto to play straight away and push the ball into the net.
Toronto came in off four straight draws in MLS play, including three in which it gave up a lead in injury time.
Being able to take a disc straight from a Sony camcorder or DVD recorder and play it in a PSP would be a powerful and practical convergence demonstration.
Dead Poet's Society, Dead Again, Moscow On The Hudson, Awakenings - he CAN play it without laughs, and his Finch of Insomnia is possibly the best straight role he's done.
But do offer them a choice of whether they want you to coach them about best strategy (making it likely they will win) or whether you want to play straight up, in which case your greater experience is likely to prevail.
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