Seemingly innocuous lawyer advert is in fact a clever publicity stunt for Breaking Bad spin-off
Fans of Breaking Bad have spotted a roadside billboard in Albuquerque advertising the services of a seemingly real lawyer called James McGill — that is in fact a clever bit of marketing for the forthcoming law-themed spin-off of the hit TV show.
Instagram user varago01 noticed that the billboard contains an image of Breaking Bad lawyer Saul Goodman in his younger days posing next to text that reads ‘James M. McGill Attorney at law’ — and recalled a mention in Breaking Bad of Goodman having changed his name from Jimmy McGill earlier in his career in a cynical bid to wow impressionable clients with his (fake) Jewish roots.
Brilliantly, the phone number featured in the ad actually works. If you call it, you get an answerphone message by the actor who plays Goodman, Bob Odenkirk, that says:
“Hello! You’ve reached the law office of James M McGill esquire, a lawyer you can trust. Kindly leave your information at the tone and Mr McGill will phone you promptly.”
The wholehearted nature of the publicity stunt is in keeping with the realistic ‘Better Call Saul’ website set up earlier this year by the programme’s makers.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Better Call Saul — which is due to hit the screens early next year — will be set in 2002 and chart McGill’s transformation into Saul Goodman.