Video: The Diamond Center Commercial (featuring Paul from The Diamond Center)

"Credit Man" is a Diamond Center Commercial ad from the early 1990's featuring Paul from The Diamond Center. Producer/camera operator Robert McWilliams shot this classic TV ad back in 1986. Robert describes Paul was a "ham." For almost ten years Robert McWilliams eventaully produced several commercials for Paul and The Diamond Center. Below is an interview pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle did with Paul from the Diamond Center awhile back.

Paul from the Diamond Center Interview

“Coming to you, on the airwaves …,” Paul talks about the "Credit Man" 
For those coming in late, our interview with Bay Area television legend Paul from the Diamond Center ran yesterday. But not in its entirety. I decided that Credit Man, the “Citizen Kane” of locally produced television commercials, deserved its own post. Paul was happy to speak at length about it. That part of our interview is below. Paul on Credit Man is below .

Peter Hartlaub: "When did you realize Credit Man had become iconic?"

Paul (from The Diamond Center): "I didn’t realize how big it was until I went to a high school basketball game in Antioch. One of my employees, his brother played for a high school team there. I showed up about 10 or 15 minutes late. The place was sold out — maybe 1,500 or 2,000 people. I hadn’t been to a high school game in 20 years. I took maybe five or six steps inside of this gym. Within seconds, the roof came off. They started to sing the Credit Man song as I walked to my seat."

Peter Hartlaub: "You’re kidding."

Paul (from The Diamond Center): "My buddies are waving to me in the bleachers. But to tell you the truth, it was so overwhelming I had to walk back out. I couldn’t keep walking forward. I didn’t know how to act. I said “I’ve got to come back in. What am I going to do?” I prepared myself mentally and went back to my seat."

Peter Hartlaub: "Everybody just loved that commercial, and obviously you had an affection for it, too."

Peter Hartlaub: "I was searching for it for years. At one point I put a bounty on it."

Paul: "What do you think it is? Why did you enjoy it?"

Peter Hartlaub: "It had the best production value. And you can’t underestimate the song. It gets in your head when you’re a kid, and it never gets out. I mean “Dublin-Berkeley-San Lorenzo-Cupertino-San Jose.” I sing it in my sleep. And you looked like you were having fun with it."

Paul: "Well I was. It was a little bit difficult with the part where they were lifting me and stuff."

Peter Hartlaub: "Why’s that?"

Paul: "As they were picking me up, I’m weighing maybe 180, 190, 200. Probably closer to 200. But for your readers I’ll tell you I’m 170. (Laughs). I could tell that your readers have an interest in knowing what caused the strain on one girl’s face. The real truth is, (she) happened to be an employee, and she wasn’t really in the mood to do it that particular day. She was behind on her work, and we wanted a fourth woman, and she was the one closest to us. “Please, please don’t!” She was so shy. I almost didn’t use her because of the shyness. I said “Don’t worry about it, we’ll put you here in the middle.” … She got the heavy part of me. So you had two issues with that face of hers. She didn’t want to be there. And I was heavy. The rest of these girls weren’t sharing the load."

Peter Hartlaub: "It sounds like there wasn’t any bad blood there."

Paul: "Oh yeah, she was a good long-term employee."

Peter Hartlaub: "Did you come up with Credit Man?"

Paul: "No, I didn’t actually. I had this guy who worked for me. He was my best friend. I loved the guy to pieces. He was creative, and had this incredible creative wife. He was the guy who hit me with the pie. … It was his (Mercedes). It was not my (Mercedes). It started to pour — I think you can see that. He got really nervous when it started to rain. But we had too much time invested. We said “We have to finish.'”

Peter Hartlaub: "Did Credit Man help your business?"

Paul: "We had done so many good ones. There’s no question, that one took us so far over the top. The viewer response — it was something we never expected.


Peter Hartlaub: "Why do you think it became so popular?"

Paul: I think it was the combination of the music and the girls. You can’t lose if you’ve got attractive girls. It’s like if I’m watching television myself, if I see some of these models, I’m not going to change it. I’m going to watch the commercial. I can’t think of the model. Crawford. What’s her first name?

Peter Hartlaub: "Cindy."

Paul: "Cindy. She does that Coke commercial. I can watch that for hours. Well, I’m married. (Laughs.) Maybe a half hour if I’m lucky …"