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American actors in British TV ads

Started by George White, December 29, 2020, 10:15:24 PM

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George White

Anyone else find it  a weird uncanny valley?
Not just yer Keitels selling DirectLine or the unlikely scenario where Frank Vincent became the face of Irish Permanent. Not just the Lost in Translation thing, but when they clearly an ad for the UK market in NTSC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd6Subu4Q4Y this exampe - is it supposed to be in England, as Celebrations were initially only available in UK/Ireland/Europe at the time. Is that why you have NZ-born long-time British-based but then US-domiciled Clive Revill...


This is another one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r6TZ5IK42w Buffy's Tom Lenk

Thomas

I was thinking about this the other day, as over the Christmas period I've watched a bit of actual broadcast telly for the first time in ages, ad breaks intact as nature intended.

I wondered if celebs with a modicum of Cool might choose to do lame ads in faraway nations, so that native fanbases back home might never be exposed, for example, to Snoop Dogg's rapping for JustEat.


DrGreggles

Yer Keitels and Bacons were fucked over by Bernie Madoff, so probably accepted a 10 year contract in exchange for a hefty payment upfront.
I assume there were others in a similar boat.

To be honest, my first thought whenever someone famous does an ad is "ooh, they're skint!" or "ooh, they've had a big tax bill!".
It's easy money for them either way.
And the "ooh" is VERY important.

El Unicornio, mang

The reverse of this, I remember a series of Burger King ads in the mid 2000s when I was living in the US, featuring Harry Enfield. Bizarre as he's a complete unknown over there, unlike the American actors appearing in British ones.



Al Pacino doing Sky Fibre Broadband ads and De Niro the one for Warburtons were odd as well. De Niro said he did it as he "thought it was funny".

George White

An American friend who lived in London and is a fan of Brit comedy saw those ads, and was baffled. He recognised Enfield, but wasn't sure why he was selling the burgers.

If the character was English, I might understand. Paul Eddington and Ian Richardson were the faces of Grey Poupon mustard for years, then replaced by Peter "Sir Frank Gordon" Cellier and Trevor "Prof. Litefoot" Baxter

Josephine Tewson as a nanny was the face of Fig Newtons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQoc08GLWAI

Sebastian Cobb

I find it quite depressing.

It's weird these titans get paid to advertise sofas over here, yet how common it is for British actors to appear in American TV/Cinema as septics 'cos they cost less.

paruses

I always find it weird because I don't understand either how big advertising budgets are or how little "big names" will take as payment. Do ads work on residuals?

David Schwimmer has suddenly appeared on my TV advertising <can't remember>.

DrGreggles

Quote from: El Unicornio, mang on December 29, 2020, 10:44:31 PM
The reverse of this, I remember a series of Burger King ads in the mid 2000s when I was living in the US, featuring Harry Enfield. Bizarre as he's a complete unknown over there, unlike the American actors appearing in British ones.

Enfield famously is fond of a pound note.
He appeared as one of his characters in a number of ads in the 90s, like some kind of pre-emptive comedy Moby.

George White

In many ways with Pacino, I do wonder does he really have the house in Surbiton.



Thomas

Never forget Iggy Pop's anarchic post-punk ads for car insurance.

Glebe

Quote from: Thomas on December 30, 2020, 01:31:15 AMNever forget Iggy Pop's anarchic post-punk ads for car insurance.

Yeah, fuck's sake, and then there's the puppet ones (here and here) to really wash away any last vestiges of dignity.

Reminds me of Dennis Hopper doing this, which isn't really a big deal, but I do remember him saying in a documentary about the making of Easy Rider that he told some producer or somebody that he didn't want him involved because he didn't want to make the movie with somebody who rides in a limousine. Oh and that's a UK ad apparently so fits the modus operandi of the thread!

Menu

What I don't get is why would anyone in any country buy something because Kevin Bacon is in the advert? Nothing against him but I don't see what advantage is gained by the company through having him in an advert. Same for about 90% of the celebs mentioned so far.

Sebastian Cobb

I think they pounced on it because he'd briefly returned to the zeitgeist due to Facebook bollocks - 'six degrees of Kevin Bacon'.

I think also the feedback on the first run was that he looked remarkably old and knackered, which didn't go down very well, so for later ones they went a bit over the top with the CGI de-aging (then much more in its infancy than in The Irishman) so it had an unsettling uncanny valley feel to it.

Menu

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on December 30, 2020, 02:29:17 AM
I think they pounced on it because he'd briefly returned to the zeitgeist due to Facebook bollocks - 'six degrees of Kevin Bacon'.


Even so why would that encourage me to change my mobile network? How many people do you think did change their mobile network because he was in the advert? I'd be amazed it was more than about 7 or 8.

Sebastian Cobb

I don't see how he would have any less clout on phones than Keitel would on car insurance. I just gloss over when this shit is on really.

Menu

I agree, and I include Keitel in this question as well as KB. It must cost a fair bit to hire these guys but I can't see how it helps to shift the product.

Sebastian Cobb

People love weird shit though to be honest. About 5 years ago i used an insurance comparison website that had a robot as the mascot and if you used them and took a quote you got a free robot toy. I didn't want it and it was a pile of plastic crap, wouldn't have given it house room, but I whacked the fucker on ebay and someone paid about 15 quid for it.

I can assume two reasons they may have wanted it - had kids who saw the adverts and got fixated, or thought it'd be collectable. I doubt the latter will ring true.

Menu

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on December 30, 2020, 03:57:57 AM
People love weird shit though to be honest. About 5 years ago i used an insurance comparison website that had a robot as the mascot and if you used them and took a quote you got a free robot toy. I didn't want it and it was a pile of plastic crap, wouldn't have given it house room, but I whacked the fucker on ebay and someone paid about 15 quid for it.

I can assume two reasons they may have wanted it - had kids who saw the adverts and got fixated, or thought it'd be collectable. I doubt the latter will ring true.

Ha! One for the desolation thread.

petril

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on December 30, 2020, 03:57:57 AM
People love weird shit though to be honest. About 5 years ago i used an insurance comparison website that had a robot as the mascot and if you used them and took a quote you got a free robot toy. I didn't want it and it was a pile of plastic crap, wouldn't have given it house room, but I whacked the fucker on ebay and someone paid about 15 quid for it.

I can assume two reasons they may have wanted it - had kids who saw the adverts and got fixated, or thought it'd be collectable. I doubt the latter will ring true.

last time I renewed my phone contract, I got a PS4 and FIFA. £200+ on ebay within a week, never opened the thing. easy street

Blinder Data

yeah, I don't know how they work out which celebs they choose to sell their product. I remember visiting Spain in 2006ish and seeing a billboard of Ed Harris's face holding some brand of tequila. I mean, Ed Harris? the guy who was in Apollo 13 and the Truman Show? it's hardly Brad Pitt. but there must some formula somewhere that makes it viable

Phil_A

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on December 30, 2020, 03:57:57 AM
People love weird shit though to be honest. About 5 years ago i used an insurance comparison website that had a robot as the mascot and if you used them and took a quote you got a free robot toy. I didn't want it and it was a pile of plastic crap, wouldn't have given it house room, but I whacked the fucker on ebay and someone paid about 15 quid for it.

I can assume two reasons they may have wanted it - had kids who saw the adverts and got fixated, or thought it'd be collectable. I doubt the latter will ring true.

Gahhhh. Those ads with the Confused.com robot were a plague on Freeview channels. The one with all the robots dancing to "Apache" was on so frequently at one point it made me ragequit the TV as I was so sick of seeing it.

Malcy

Quote from: Thomas on December 29, 2020, 10:21:49 PM
I was thinking about this the other day, as over the Christmas period I've watched a bit of actual broadcast telly for the first time in ages, ad breaks intact as nature intended.

I wondered if celebs with a modicum of Cool might choose to do lame ads in faraway nations, so that native fanbases back home might never be exposed, for example, to Snoop Dogg's rapping for JustEat.

A snippet of Snoop's Just Eat track was doing the rounds in rare song circles as an unreleased track for sale so there was at least one person trying to sell it hoping people didn't know what it was!

dissolute ocelot

Quote from: Menu on December 30, 2020, 03:14:10 AM
I agree, and I include Keitel in this question as well as KB. It must cost a fair bit to hire these guys but I can't see how it helps to shift the product.
Keitel is bizarre because he's advertising Direct Line whose target market is elderlies with 20 years no claims who can't work price comparison websites, not people who like slightly culty cinema with rape and murder.

Bacon I guess is supposed to be a nice, friendly, trustworthy, cool guy (aside from the film where he played a nice paedophile) whom you vaguely recognise and probably don't hate. And maybe you're supposed to wonder "what did I see him in?"

On the other hand David Schwimmer is playing a tosser in terrible adverts for a shit bank. I imagine he's cheap, and possibly more popular here than back home.

Bently Sheds

Quote from: Thomas on December 30, 2020, 01:31:15 AM
Never forget Iggy Pop's anarchic post-punk ads for car insurance.
He's doing an ad for generic post-covid Holidays now. Does a voiceover as people run down a beach into the water in slow motion. The camera pans out to him standing on the sand in an odd pose with his disturbing tits out. Truth be told I had to get up close to the screen to actually register it was Iggy Pop.

Glebe

Quote from: Menu on December 30, 2020, 03:14:10 AMI agree, and I include Keitel in this question as well as KB. It must cost a fair bit to hire these guys but I can't see how it helps to shift the product.

Just that they reckon people with go 'Look! a big, Hollywood star!' and will possibly remember the product because of it. But yeah, does it actually work?

Thomas

#28
Speaking of Davids and Iggy Pop, David Bowie did many an advert back when he was alive. The first one in this compilation was directed Ridley Scott.

Though I hate all contemporary adverts, old ads - divorced by time from their consumer purposes - take on a strange cultural cachet. Especially if the product quaintly no longer exists. Ads + time = art.

Quote from: Glebe on December 30, 2020, 02:02:56 PM
Just that they reckon people with go 'Look! a big, Hollywood star!' and will possibly remember the product because of it. But yeah, does it actually work?

I don't really get it, either. An amusing ad starring a nobody will remind you that Warburtons bread exists just as much as one with Robert De Niro, won't it? Perhaps a celebrity face makes the product stick in our brains for 12% longer. I'm sure they've done surveys. Or haven't, and ad heads just live in a permanent state of disconnect, endlessly pissing money between the lines of coke.

EDIT: According to the first Google search result,

QuoteAccording to research by Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse and Barclays Capital analyst Jeroen Verleun, a celebrity endorsement increases a company's sales an average of 4% relative to its competition, and also increases a company's stock value by 0.25%.

El Unicornio, mang

Quote from: Thomas on December 30, 2020, 02:05:02 PM


I don't really get it, either. An amusing ad starring a nobody will remind you that Warburtons bread exists just as much as one with Robert De Niro, won't it? Perhaps a celebrity face makes the product stick in our brains for 12% longer. I'm sure they've done surveys.

I think this is it, they must crunch the numbers pretty hard and it has to be worth paying x amount to get y in return or they wouldn't keep doing it. I like De Niro and Warburtons, although it's not like I'm thinking that Warburtons is his bread of choice and that makes me even more keen on it. He's probably never eaten it in his life.

I also never understood companies like Oracle paying $200 million to have their name put on a baseball stadium which everyone refers to by the old name anyway, but it must pay off for them.