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Celebrity Endorsements Abroad

December 21, 2006 at 12:15 PM | 0 Comments



The best part of traveling outside the United States--besides the convenience stores and record shops--is the celebrity endorsement spotting. Stars, and big ones at that, shill a lot of coffee and jewelry and whatnot around the world. They make good money this way, doing stuff they'd never do in America because it's cheesy. The minute you step out of the States, especially when it's to Europe and Asia, you're bound to notice the commercials and magazine ads. Proactiv commercials are an exception--you can catch those right at home.

Of course, this is the YouTube age, and no one ever expected these activities to be truly top secret. You simply cannot get away from the above commercial in Austria. It's George Clooney pimping for Nespresso, a coffee company and espresso machine maker affiliated with Nestle. Nespresso has stores all over Austria, and beyond in Europe, where it's easy to get laughed at as a foreigner ordering your coffee the wrong way.

Room Service Leftovers

November 7, 2006 at 11:44 AM | 0 Comments



This is one of many Holiday Inn commercials from a few years back, featuring comedian Ross Brockley. For the series, Brockley plays a man named Mark Harvey who's moved into a Holiday Inn. Here, he pulls a George Costanza and picks from leftovers on a room service tray. We can't say we've ever been tempted to do the same, but you have to respect the character for doing what he's gotta do to get by, and at least moving out of his parents' house. Besides, Holiday Inns are way more expensive these days; it's a creative way of saving money.

So Where the Bloody Hell Are You? Part Deux

October 6, 2006 at 9:32 AM | 0 Comments



Guess it is all Aussie Friday, huh?

Australia created quite a stir in 2006 with its "Where the Bloody Hell Are You?" tourism advertising campaign. The commercial was banned in the UK and Canada, but allowed in the United States, though we never caught it on television ourselves. A few parodies have popped up since then, though the one we originally posted has been going off and on YouTube quite a bit. Our new favorite is displayed above. So is it the first parody, the new one, or the original commercial that makes you want to head Down Under the most?

Related Stories:
· Blunder Down Under [Jaunted]
· So where the bloody hell are you? [Wikipedia]

Terminating Mah-Jongg Opponents

April 17, 2006 at 3:22 PM | 0 Comments


It's a pretty well established fact that Hollywood stars are happy to do commercials in Japan for lots of money, even if they wouldn't do them here. We point you to this one only to show you what you've been missing: Ah-nuld playing mah-jongg and generally flipping out for no discernable reason.

Here's a detailed explanation of why exactly he's flipping out; he excited about some kind of energy drink meant to improve his mah-jongg skills. We just think it's extra funny after the man wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal last week about immigration. He loves all kinds of foreigners, we guess. And their money.