Advertising is much like cultivating celebrity status: both rely on stirring charisma, making shrewd production choices, and having an engaging hook that causes people to take notice. Often, the use of a celebrity actor can help elevate an ad campaign or even form the impetus for a commercial’s production. As celebrity culture has changed over the last twenty years with the rise of social media, so too has how companies reach out to their intended audiences. At right.video, we wanted to take a look into the green room to find the best ads of all time with celebrities in a starring role, be they movie stars, sports icons, or even famous franchise characters. Whether you’re an avid fan of the individual celebrity or not, we can’t hope but admire the imagination that goes into these ads when they have the right actor take the lead.
Director: Roger Mosconi
Production Company | Agency: American Eagle | McCann Erickson
One of the American NFL’s most famous players, Joe Greene was a defensive tackle who helped forge the Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty in the late 1970s, earning the nickname “Mean Joe Greene” in the process. Coca-Cola sought to smooth the rough edges around him, developing this ad campaign in October 1979. With a simple set-up and a offer of refreshing Coke, Greene helped create the template for future sports ads to come: that of the tough, but kind role model that children aspired to be.
Director: N/A
Production Company | Agency: N/A
Turning our attention away from western advertisement, we find ourselves in the world of Japanese advertising, which once had a reputation for enlisting many foreign celebrities to help hawk their goods to local consumers. In this instance, Alinamin enlisted the help of action star Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote their V energy drink line in the early 1990s. With a bombastic overtone and an equally madcap production, Schwarzenegger becomes a maniacal king, energized by the beverage in an ad that can only be described as a test run for his turn as Mr. Freeze later in the decade.
Director: Various (Example given: Guy Ritchie)
Production Company | Agency: Anonymous Content | Fallon
For the most ambitious of the ad campaigns on this list, BMW commissioned a series of short films starring Clive Owen as the Driver, showing off the latest vehicles that the German automaker had created at the time. With the help of various actors and directors, “The Hire” is a series of commercials which are almost mini-movies, driven by car chases, gunplay, and all the spectacle one could expect from an action film. Such was this rich recipe of elements that director Luc Besson credited “The Hire” with inspiring his own Transporter franchise. The one short we wanted to highlight, in particular, is “Star”, directed by Guy Ritchie and co-starring his then wife Madonna.
Director: Andrew Douglas
Production Company | Agency: Les Produceurs
Dipping into native French advertising, we have this wonderful oddity from Vittel starring legendary multi-hyphenate David Bowie. With a little help from professional impersonator David Brighton, we find that Bowie is living with each of the alter egos that he embodied of his decades-long career. For fans of the musician, it’s quite a sight seeing all these different personas living together, ranging from the star-laced Ziggy Stardust to the infamous Thin White Duke. It’s this mix of stardom and the mundane that made this mineral water ad, much like the song that accompanies it ‘never get old’.
Director: Phil Morrison
Production Company | Agency: TBWA/Media Arts Lab
Comedian Justin Long has had a long and extensive acting resume, ranging from action film Live Free or Die Hard to mainstay comedy work with American director Kevin Smith. Yet, it’s this series of Apple commercials from the latter half of the 2000s that have become his most famous work. Representing the young, trendy demographic that Apple was targeting with its Mac computers, Long co-starred with fellow comedian John Hodgman and set the template for an ad campaign that would be replicated all over the globe.
Production Company | Agency: Nintendo
The late-comedian Robin Williams made no secret of his admiration and love for Nintendo’s long-running The Legend of Zelda video game series. So much so, in fact, that he named his daughter after the name of the series female lead. In this ad for the release of Ocarina of Time 3D, Williams narrates how he strove through adversity for Zelda, only to be interrupted by his real-life daughter Zelda Williams. It was a commercial that was both heartwarming and endearing, both to the beloved actor and to the video game series that he adored so much.
Director: Matthijis Van Heijningen
Production Company | Agency: MJZ | Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam
Made in anticipation for the then-newest film in the James Bond franchise, Daniel Craig reprises his famous super spy in an ad that captured the sensational moments of any film in the series. From the glamor aboard a high-speed train to snow-swept eastern Europe, the “Skyfall” ad is mostly preoccupied with a young man mistaken for 007. Yet, Craig appears in pivotal moments, offering a Heineken for the trouble before returning to his adventure. It was a mix of the high-stakes of a spy film combined with a fittingly Dutch twist.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Production Company | Agency: Skunk | Hudson Rouge
The first in a long-running creative partnership between actor Matthew McConaughey and the automobile maker, “Bull” was an off-kilter campaign ad showcasing the True Detective star. Promoting the MKC Lincoln SUV, McConaughey makes use of his trademark drawl and taste for the unconventional when confronted by the titular bull. It was an approach that the ad’s director, Drive’s Nicolas Winding Refn, encouraged, emphasizing unscripted work and loose storytelling. Thanks to his recent Oscar win in Dallas Buyers Club, McConaughey’s work both ignited renewed sales in Lincoln and created spoofs with Jim Carrey and Ellen DeGeneres.
Director: Daniel Kleinman
Production Company | Agency: Rattling Stick | AMV BBDO
Part of a series of ads that aired exclusively in the UK, this Snickers campaign revolved around Rowan Atkinson’s famous comedy character, Mr. Bean in the world of a martial arts epic. Atkinson’s first commercial since the 1990s, “Kung Fu” contrasts the mastery of an Ancient Chinese warrior with the clumsiness of the silent comedian, illustrating how off-kilter anyone can be when they don’t have the taste of a Snickers bar. It was a reiteration of the already-successful “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign but with a deliciously British twist alongside a distinctly British comedy icon.
Director: Guy Shelmerdine
Production Company | Agency: Smuggler Films | Special Group Australia
Perhaps the most poignant of the commercials on this list, this series of ads depicts a long-running rivalry between actors Mark Hamill and Sir Patrick Stewart. Both men are thwarted one way or another by the distraction caused by the arrival of their take-out order. In the age of COVID-19, online food ordering has become the norm and ads such as what Uber Eats has come up call for distinct moods. Combining the most famous faces of two beloved sci-fi franchises facing off gives both a tongue-in-cheek nod to their respective series, but also answering who’d win in a fight between Luke Skywalker and Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
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Celebrity advertising has always been at the forefront of stellar ad campaigns and we believe that these are among some of the finest produced by the industry. You can find many of these ads here on the right.video search engine, among many others from either US entertainment or around the world. We hope that these choices are the perfect gateway to the world of celebrity advertising and that they show that not only do you need a great product, but often a great face to sell it.
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