Celebs in Euro commercials: Sellouts?

Beeyotch · September 18th, 2006, 02:12 PM

So I recently moved to Spain and the first thing I noticed was the commercials with American movie stars in them, hawking mundane things like department stores (Charlize Theron) and Axe body spray (Ben Affleck, in the same exact commercial Nick Lachey is running in the U.S.--way to be original, Axe!)

The first thing I thought was how funny that they can get away with that in Europe; if these same commercials ran in the U.S., people would be wondering why an Oscar winner like Charlize Theron was doing a commercial for the Euro equivalent of JC Penney (is she broke, her career not doing so well?) It would definitely dim their "star wattage" and make them look more common or attainable. I thought it weird that it's clearly NOT the case in Europe.

However, I think it'd be good for a laugh to spread the cheesiness these movie stars partake in just to collect a good chunk of change while they think the rest of the U.S. isn't watching. My question is, how do I record these commercials off TV? Do I need a TV card on my laptop? Help me ridicule these celebs so we can all laugh at them together!

celeb_2006 · September 18th, 2006, 04:08 PM

Now it's Europe, huh? Cool! It used to be (still is?) Japan was the hot spot for big name celebs to shamelessly hawk their products.

I can't blame them, really, if I were a celebrity I'd do it too. After working decades at dead end jobs that keep me broke, earning six figures plus for doing nothing more than holding up a product and smiling at the camera (not to mention free airfare, hotel, and a chance to see a foreign country) is vacation, easy money baby!

DevilDoll2025 · September 21st, 2006, 10:19 AM

I want to see those commercials!!!!

**PurpleHaze** · September 21st, 2006, 11:11 AM

i've seen the ben affleck one and thought it was cute (didn't know nick did the same one but i am pretty sure almost nobody here would know who he is). there was also one with robert de niro for i think american express that surprised me but i would think that was also shown in the usa. he was talking about his city new york.

ourmaninBusan · September 21st, 2006, 11:24 AM

You might want to visit japander.com to see who's done commercials there.

But it's not just for a quick paycheck -- it's for increasing the
Box office of your future films. Most Japanese don't know who
someone like Woody Harrelson is, so Woody does a commercial for
Eneos Gas stations with Bruce Willis to raise his profile. That way,
when his next movie comes out, his face will be on the poster
and people will recognize him.

Beeyotch · September 21st, 2006, 11:32 AM

I liked the Axe commercial too, (although I thought Nick did it better). But it was the Charlize Theron one that made me think twice. 1) she is a big star that won an Oscar, which is a pretty big deal. And 2) because she did a commercial for a common department store, El Corte Ingles. I've seen her in L'Oreal commercials, but somehow being a spokesperson for a cosmetics company speaks to their beauty. Or it might make sense for Oscar Winner DeNiro to hawk an AmEx card because we are supposed to associate his elite status with the elite financial status the card offers. His star power does not suffer, IMO.

But a big fancy movie star doing commercials for, say, JC Penney, a very run-of-the-mill, not fancy at all type department store, seems weird and unlikely in the U.S. Well, to me, anyways, because I am not used to certain kinds of celebrity endorsements on TV.

Just read your post, OurMan, and it's true that it makesgood marketing sense to raise their profile with such adverts because they're not known at all in Japan. They don't have the context of so and so being an Oscar-winning movie star or a little TV actor. But people in the U.S. do, so that's why I think it looks weird or funny.

I still want to figure out how to record things off tv and onto youtube or something. Couldn't find anything on a quick google search...

twitchy · September 21st, 2006, 12:22 PM

Why is there such a taboo against celebrities making commercials in North America anyway? They once did. Right through the sixties in both print and TV. They seemed to sharply die off in the early seventies.

NawdleZouss · September 21st, 2006, 02:52 PM

....

I like El Corte Inglés.

Beeyotch · September 23rd, 2006, 04:26 PM

Ha, I think it's the shizz, as well. But then I also love JC Penneys and Target and Wal-Mart. I'm such a consumerist whore and I never even realized it.

WickedHo · September 23rd, 2006, 05:49 PM

All actors are whores for cash. It's what we* do (when we're lucky): we get paid a large sum of money for a small amount of time on-the-clock. Models, too. We're all whores. So don't sleep, y'all: even Oscar winners are simply actors, and actors are often unemployed.

I don't think it's a sell-out at all when an actor hawks stuff. It's what they do: they sell product. And, actually, I give credit to folks like James Earl Jones for refusing to think they're better than other actors. It ain't always about art. It's about GETTIN' PAID.

*Let it be known that I am still just a broke-ass no-name nobody.

Beeyotch · September 23rd, 2006, 06:01 PM

Wicked, so let me pose the question: If you had Charlize's career and had won an Oscar, would you do a commercial for a department store? If you didn't really need the money, that is?

Barbara · September 23rd, 2006, 06:04 PM

It's so normal here, it never crossed my mind that this could ridicule them in the US.

dakodas · September 23rd, 2006, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barbara

It's so normal here, it never crossed my mind that this could ridicule them in the US.

It is not ridicule, it is a lower perceived value they fear.

Beeyotch · September 23rd, 2006, 06:14 PM

Although it is completely superficial, I think that's true about lowering a star's perceived value. I don't even think many Americans would make such a big deal of it, but I certainly did a doubletake and then had a laugh at how cheesy it struck me. Just a matter of being used to it, as Barbara mentioned, or not, as is the case with me.

WickedHo · September 23rd, 2006, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beeyotch

Wicked, so let me pose the question: If you had Charlize's career and had won an Oscar, would you do a commercial for a department store? If you didn't really need the money, that is?

Hell's yeah!

I ain't ashamed to admit it. I'm an actor (well, I'd label myself as "artist" but that's a whole other conversation), and I do it because I love it. But I also recognize that there's tons of money to be made outside of movies and tv and theatre.

So, yeah, I'm a whore for cash. Besides, you never know what the future may hold. Charlize could become horribly disfigured in an accident or start a feud with the wrong person. The point is: money doesn't last, and fame fades. So she may as well amass and horde all she can now!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beeyotch

Although it is completely superficial, I think that's true about lowering a star's perceived value.

It depends on what they're selling I guess?