MCCANN-ERICKSON New York makes advertising for Smith Barney the old-fashioned way. In a landscape increasingly populated with comeback campaigns from the likes of Timex and Culligan International, Smith Barney will once again promote itself in the third-person plural: Cranin, executive vice president and deputy creative director of McCann New York, a unit of the Interpublic Group of Companies, which has been the Smith Barney agency since last August.

Houseman helped turn the slogan into a catch phrase with his deliberately haughty delivery, echoing his performance as the curmudgeonly Professor Kingsfield in the TV series "The Paper Chase. Houseman in and in , the year Mr. A campaign featuring the voice of George C. Scott ran from to And the theme is timelier than ever, added Ms.

Elliott, who is no relation to this columnist, because "the concepts of hard work and trust are important today, as people are very serious about their money. Though the new spots -- five initially and at least two more to come -- are as serious as those featuring Mr. Houseman, he is replaced by unknown actors who act as if they were channeling his plain-spoken, suffer-no-foolish-investors-gladly spirit.

Cranin said, "answering to 'a higher authority. Not that a celebrity replacement was not considered.

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Yet "no one fit the bill because everybody makes the comparison to Houseman," said Kevin Allen, senior vice president and group management director at McCann New York. One even said, 'I don't want someone being wishy-washy about my money. The actors are as far from wishy-washy as Mr.

Houseman was from Pee-wee Herman. A steely woman admonishes viewers about brokers: You're not all their clients. Make them do their homework; make them earn their money. In another spot, a confident man sniffs: Be certain they have one.

And do business with a firm that understands that sometimes an investor's greatest asset is patience. Clearly the campaign runs the risk of promising too much, particularly if Smith Barney encounters the same problems as Prudential Securities, Salomon Inc.

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And there's a danger that consumers will perceive the actors as too hard, aloof and patronizing, attributes they permitted Mr. Houseman because of his stature and persona. Allen said, adding that in tests, "one out of every 30" consumers responded to the actors along the lines of, 'Who do they think they are? But when the consumers viewed some "soft takes," Mr. Allen said, "what you gained in pulling back in likability you lost in terms of strength and the ability to connect with John Houseman.

The commercials will run on broadcast and cable networks and local stations; there will also be print advertisements, primarily in newspapers. In a new Smith Barney commercial, an actor playing a wealthy investor says: It's not something that you dabble in. Room for Debate asks whether shorefront homeowners should have to open their land to all comers. Log In Register Now Help Home Page Today's Paper Video Most Popular.

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