I’ve been watching a fair bit of television in the UK recently (Gogglebox addiction) and I’ve been surprised to see well known American actors pitching products.
Off the top of my head, the first I saw was Harvey Keitel in an ad for home insurance. Kevin Bacon does a whole series for EE mobile phones. Ryan Reynolds does silly spots for BT (British Telecom) Internet. Also for BT, Jeremy Renner pitches their mobile phones.
Since the ads are specific to the UK, and I don’t watch commerical tv in the States, I’d be surprised if these same actors are doing commercials there.
Is it a way to make some cash without alienating home audiences? Can anyone come up with more examples? Do British stars do ads in the U.S. but not at home?
Kevin Bacon is no stranger to US television audiences. He’s done many commercials here, including a funny Hanes commercial with Michael Jordan and a VISA commercial playing off the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” meme.
US stars often make ads in other countries but not in the US (Lost in Translation is based upon that practice). They money is good and their main audience won’t see the ads. It’s considered a bit of a step down for a top star to make ads, as though they can’t get good parts any more. By doing them outside the US, they can cash in without casting directors thinking they’re over the hill.
That was my reaction to the UK ads. I’ve seen some weird clips over the years of American stars making ads in Japan (they get paid a fortune) but I was surprised by the likes of Keitel and Reynolds.
Thanks Cochrane. I had no idea Bacon did American ads. Maybe I’m just out of touch.
There was a super bowl ad from a year or two ago featuring nothing but British actors (the basic idea was how they make good villains because of the English accent).
The other obvious example is surely Clooney flogging coffee these last few years.
There does also seem to be a recent trend of prominent British actors doing ads on British TV, but only for charitable causes and often just with a voiceover. Ewan McGregor, Jeremy Irons, etc. Who probably wouldn’t do straight commercial ads in the same slots.
Ha no, but now I Googled it. I suspected I was wrong, but without trying to sound like some kind of TV snob, I really haven’t watched commercial American TV in about a decade. Next you’ll tell me Harvey Keitel does ads for Burger King.
While we’d like to claim him especially after Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds is a Canadian.
While Japandering was considered a shameful thing around the time of Lost in Translation, now US TV features many non-washed up actors in commercials. I would argue that if not completely stigma-free, it is mostly okay now.
Amy Sedaris has been on UK TV ads pretending to be a “laundry expert” whereby she tosses smelly dissolvable things into the wash. I have no idea who she is, never seen her on anything else.
She was in the US television series Strangers With Candy on Comedy Central. She does commercials here, too. One of them was with Pittsburgh Steeler “Mean Joe” Greene in a takeoff of his famous Coca-Cola commercial.
He’s done commercials in the US for Capital One (a credit card company). And, of course, he was one of the stars of 30 Rock and also hosted the Match Game revival. He’s one of those actors who are equally at home doing TV and movies.
The phenomena of big time US stars only doing commercials overseas and not in the US died about 15+ years ago. Back in the day, Jimmy Stewart, Paul Newman, etc. would do foreign commercials and not in the US for the reasons stated. But that trend changed when US movies became more and more global box office successes and big name actors do commercials everywhere.
He also had a radio spot running for the longest time for Bonefish Grill, as if greatly relishing the chance to say “Bang Bang Shrimp” with gravel-voiced gusto.
