Snap, Crackle, What?

 William Shatner – All Bran

The joy of playing a character on a show like Star Trek is that the devoted fans will still revere and adore you long after the final season. The problem is, as an actor you will still need to make money and when Star Trek legend William Shatner, aka Captain Kirk, embarked on a long campaign to encourage people to eat more All Bran some Trekkies were a little upset. Thankfully, the adverts are fairly tongue in cheek and possess a certain charm, beside, it’s hard to stay mad at The Cap. for long.





Audrey Hepburn – Galaxy

Ad campaigns have been long-known to help resurrect a celebrity’s career, but in the case of this 2014 Galaxy commercial they somehow resurrected a deceased Hollywood legend. Using the magic of CGI, animators created an entire La Dolce Vita-esque setting with an extremely life-like 19-year-old Hepburn. Impressive, visually stunning, and slightly creepy.





Iggy Pop – Swift Cover

Ever the revolutionary, Iggy Pop caused a stir when he starred in a campaign for insurance firm Swift Cover resulting in the adverts being banned by The Advertising Standards Agency. For once, the problem wasn’t The Stooges frontman’s lewd behaviour or bad language, but the fact that the insurance company didn’t actually offer insurance to musicians. In the end, swift Cover did a U-turn, helping musicians everywhere be more than just The Passenger.





Joe Hart – Head and Shoulders

Athletes in advertising is big business stretching far beyond flogging sportswear. From Jessica Ennis encouraging us to bank with Santander to Lewis Hamilton advocating facial moisturisers, there seems to be a pretty broad scope of what’s socially acceptable for these stars to sell. The problem with Joe Hart promoting Head and Shoulders then, is not just to do with no one wanting to admit they have dandruff, but more about the fact that the ads are just plain terrible.





George Clooney and John Malkovich – Nespresso

In this series of Nespresso commercials, George Clooney and John Malkovich prove that advertising ought not to affect your artistic integrity so long as the product is right. Clooney has in the past defended his association with the brand saying “you want to have a product you are proud of and not embarrassed by; you don’t want to do ones that aren’t classy,” and the Burn After Reading duo were highly praised for these funny and irreverent ads.


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