Empire Today

The "Empire Man" was introduced in 1978 as a live action character and later adapted into a popular animated person that has grown to become a cultural icon.[3] The "Empire Man" has been seen internationally in commercials and other media, has spawned a line of collectible bobblehead dolls and inspired the Chicago Cubs to declare an official "Empire Day" at Wrigley Field in 2007.[4]

The "Empire Man" was portrayed on television by Lynn Hauldren, a former ad executive, from 1978 through 2011. After Empire Today retired the live character in favor of a computer-animated version, Hauldren continued to provide voiceovers for the ads until his death in 2011. Some of the commercials with his voice are still airing.[5] Since 2017 the “Empire Man” has been portrayed by Ryan Salzwedel in various television spots.

Contrary to popular belief, the "Empire Man" was not the company's owner nor was he one of the installers. In the late 1970s, Hauldren was one of the advertising copywriting forces behind the Empire brand. The company's owner during the time requested that he serve as the on-air talent for the spots after unsuccessfully auditioning several other people for the role. Hauldren also wrote and recorded the tune used as the company's famous jingle.

Empire Today's advertising jingle, which has been broadcast since 1977, is a widely recognized theme.[6] The jingle is simply a small mixed gender vocal group singing out the digits of the telephone number. The original Chicago-centered version was only the seven-digit number:

"588-2300, Em-pire!"

In 1988, Empire Today added 3 extra digits to the number so their number would be (312) 588 2300 but when the number showed up on their adverts, they did not sing the 312 bit. Instead, they would sing the number but then the 312 appeared after singing "Em-pire!" Here is what it would look like when sang:

"588 2300 Em-pire! (312) 588 2300"

As the chain expanded nationally in 2000 (though it was first used in Chicago in 1996 to compensate for the Chicago area's surge in area codes from just 312 to the current nine, beginning in 1989, and just after the suburban 708/847 1996 split), meanwhile, the greater New York City metropolitan area was the first region to participate in Empire's roll-out in 1999 where the same tune was used, but with an 800 number prefix added for the company's toll-free number:

"800-588-2300, Em-pire!"

After changing its name to Empire Today on December 23, 2002, the new name was added to the jingle, which resulted in a sped-up version of the song so "Today" could be included. Starting in 2003, the jingle reverted to the original, but with the Empire Man saying "today" at the end ("800-588-2300, Em-pire Today!").