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12 Best Foreign Celebrity Ads
A Whiskered Man Sells Whisky
Unlike the infamous Paul Masson brandy commercials in which Orson Welles was visibly inebriated in the outtakes, the Citizen Kane director doesn’t appear to have sampled the wares in this 1979 Japanese ad for G & G Whisky, but he doesn’t seem as at home in front of the lens as he was behind it, either.
George Clooney’s Coffee Heist
We admit, this 2006 European commercial wouldn’t have made our list if it didn’t star George Clooney. As far as coffee commercials go, this one is pretty standard, really. But the actor best known as the star of the Ocean’s franchise is Nespresso’s ‘Global Ambassador.’ Beats the Dunkin’ Donuts guy any day.
Indy Wouldn’t Approve
A sweaty, naked Harrison Ford selling Kirin beer in this 1990s Japanese ad does more to ruin the image of Indiana Jones than the latest entry to the movie franchise.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Why America Must Learn to Bow
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
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This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
You're surprised Jolie and Pitt would stoop to do a mere commercial? The couple that sold their baby pictures to the highest bidder? Twice?
slobone, Jolie and Pitt then gave the money they made on the pictures to charity. I applaud them for that.
Oh, Daily Beast. How you amuse me. But you missed a few!
Nicolas Cage runs afoul of aliens while singing along to Beethoven's Fifth in his pick-up: http://tinyurl.com/anunmx
And this Japanese commercial, which features no celebs but is truly awesome: http://tinyurl.com/cxccoq
Forgot one myself...a vastly superior depiction of Orson Welles boozed up and flubbing his lines: http://tinyurl.com/2fl5xp
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
there are many better Japanese commercials starring American celebrities...The Megan Ryan one being one of my personal favorites.
http://thepopcorntrick.blogspot.com/2008/10/top-us-celebrities-as-seen- in-japanese.html
There was a great one in the mid-90s of Ringo Starr promoting apples because ringo means apple in Japanese.
You have missed one of the finest foreign celeb commercials of all time: Charles Bronson for Mandom cologne (http://tinyurl.com/mandom).
He is truly the manliest of manly men...
Brad Pitt is just flat funny.
Thank you.
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