Nope, that was me. Though it was meant in a sarcastic, stop the chatter and make with the hotties name sort of fun way.
Seriously, the info was good to have, thanks for the insight WordMan
More seriously, make with the hotties name!!
I rarely see an ethnic criminal on a TV commercial. In fact, I can’t remember the last commercial I saw with an ethnic criminal.
First, how many commericals have you seen with criminals in them period?
Anyway, the most recent one I could remember was, actually, a part of the exact same ad campaign this thread is about. Clicking that AdCritic link confirmed it for me - I recognized it by its title, “Whacked”. You can guess who the subject is in that one.
I jut want to add my voice to the “It’s my favorite commercial”, “I can’t wait for it to come on again”, and “Who is that hottie?” groups. I love the change in his voice when he says, " I do a lot of business out here, and I gotta tell you, it’s a crapshoot". I’m sure I’ve seen him playing a similar role in some BBC production, or some movie.
I sent an e-mail to Verizon asking about this. Very unlikely I’ll get an answer.
I’ve googled everything I can think of. If Dopers don’t know, then nobody does.
Okay, found the ad agency via Google and e-mailed them too. Thank heaven for the internets.
Be sure to let us know if you get an answer! 
It’s interesting to see such unanimity about this guy’s ‘hotness.’ As a straight male, with a (very) few exceptions, I never see guys as either attractive or unattractive – they’re just guys. I’ll have to pay special attention the next time I see this ad; maybe there’s something about this bloke I can copy.
I’m so glad that I’m not the only person who thinks this guy is hot. Everytime the commercial comes on, I call him my television commercial boyfriend. I have to add the ‘commercial’ part because my television boyfriend position has already been filled by Craig Ferguson.
Verizon responded – over the weekend even! They said thanks for the positive feedback but they (whoever saw the e-mail) don’t know who the actor is.
Still waiting on the ad agency.
I’m really tickled not to be the only one who’s noticed this guy, and the ad.
LOL! I was just thinking last night, I could be “married to the mob” if it meant I was married to that cutie-pie. 
AuntiePam, that’s pretty cool that Verizon responded so quickly. Hopefully the ad agency gets back to you as well.
Maybe is was this guy in that Vanilla Coke commercial. If you squint your eyes Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri does look a little bit ethnic.
Never seen that commercial.
Squint hard enough? Come on, if it’s the ad I think it is, the one where the guy is peeking through the hole in the fence, then that guy was definitely supposed to be an Italian-American mobster (or mobster-like, since the irony at the end was that he rewarded the guy rather than killing him).
All people have an ethnic background. Not just black and latino people.
I saw this commercial before, but never noticed the guy at all. After reading this thread, I thought maybe I’d missed something, but no–he has absolutely no appeal to this gay guy at all. Really just your average looking guy. I really don’t know what the others in this thread find so attractive about him–is it his strong, “bad boy” vibe and thug-like macho posturing? Or would you really find him attractive in just a headshot photo? Unfortunately, **VarlosZ **, I don’t think there is anything about him that you could copy, or that women in the real world would actually like about copying his behaviors.
I saw him as a spokesman in an AIG Assurance ad that’s currently running.
Being Korean, I focused in on the (possibly) Korean henchman.
Odd Job and Random Task would be proud.
For me it’s the change in his demeanor – if he’d stayed menacing throughout the ad, he wouldn’t be so captivating. In just a few seconds, the ad writers gave him some depth, a personality.
Maybe it’s the “bad boy being nice” thing, like Marlon Brando in The Wild One. Johnny showed vulnerability, which is what makes him memorable.
That’s it exactly for me. He all tough and menacing one second and the next he got this almost boyish curiousity/excitement about phone service.