What celebrity product endorsements have irritated or upset you?

[Flaxbee]

Or disappointed you?

Was talking about this in another thread, and thought it might get some traction as an original post.

I haven't watched 30Rock b/c Tina Fey's American Express commercial pissed me off. The commercial itself seemed so self-satisfied with its cleverness, and I just don't like credit card companies.

Patrick Stewart's voice over for one of big Pharma's meds (don't remember which). Really disappointed me, I like Patrick Stewart and it seemed he had no integrity.

Sting singing for Jaguar = ridiculous.

John Boy for Mercedes = irritating.

Now, William Shatner for Priceline cracks me up. I have no problem with it at all.

Nor does James Spader's voice over for Acura bug me in the slightest.

I fully realize these irritations of mine may be quite petty, but there you go.

How about you? Any endorsement irk you more than others? :hi:

[PVnRT]

1. I like Abraham Lincoln's endorsement of Diet Mountain Dew

DO THE PEOPLE WANT A REPLY???

[graywarrior]

18. I love that stupid ad

But I'd never buy Mountain Dew

[PVnRT]

31. Neither would I

Lincoln with a bald eagle tattoo on his chest? Fuck yeah.

[cherish44]

2. Bob Dole for Viagra

Bob Dole and erectile dysfunction falls under the category of too much information.

[SacredCow]

30. BEYOND too much information... n/t

[geardaddy]

3. Queen Latifah's shilling for Wal-Mart

I thought she was better than that.

Plus, any popular song for any commercial, e.g. "Hello, Goodbye" for Targhetto, because it puts real jingle writers out of work.

[LynneSin]

12. I so agree with that

Made me realize she totally abandoned her earlier roots with some of the first albums she put out. I realize we'll never get another album out of her like "All Hail the Queen" but geez can you at least try to act like some of the words you rapped about meant something

[geardaddy]

16. So sad.

I don't think she's doing anymore endoresments for them now though.

[Deja Q]

46. I loved that album...

1990 was so long ago. :(

[WI_DEM]

25. Ever since Bill had his "Queen Latifah moment" she began to change her image.

[AlCzervik]

4. Sting was ridiculous way before that Jaguar ad.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. that law and order guy promoting the insurance company...

[AlCzervik]

6. Sam Waterson shilling for TD Waterhouse?

i agree, i hate those ads, stop Jack McCoy!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. yeah cos its very manipulative.

thanks for reminding me of the relevant info :)

[charlie and algernon]

7. Whatever ads Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman do

those two are top notch actors and shouldn't possibly need extra cash. It's one thing for B list actors to do endorsements, but A+ list actors need to stay the hell away from commercials.

[geardaddy]

14. I agree with the Morgan Freeman endorsement

of Citibank. C'mon Morgan, :wtf:

[Shell Beau]

9. It seems like a lot endorse Proactiv.

[AlCzervik]

11. Proactiv is right up there with Nurtasystem and Jenny Craig.

they have new celebs every week.

[Shell Beau]

13. Yep! Maybe they actually work. Who knows?

:shrug:

[Heidi]

10. I'm absolutely incensed about the Nespresso commercials, print ads and internet campaign.

I love my Nespresso machine and enjoy the products twice each morning, but why the hell isn't George Clooney having coffee with me every morning???? He lives in Como, less than an hour away!!!!!!!!

I've gotta go check my warranty. I think I'm being cheated somehow. :grr:

[Bertha Venation]

36. Write a letter to his agent, asking him over for coffee.

You never know. ;)

[CTyankee]

42. I just LOVE that Nespresso commercial with George! He's so wonderful.

I don't see it here in the States. I only saw it a year ago when I was in Northern Italy (Lake Maggiore, Turin, Bologna).

Where are you located?

[Heidi]

43. Hi, CTyankee!

We're in southern Switzerland, about five minutes from the northern Italian border, and about 200 meters above Lago Maggiore. :hi:

My favorite Nespresso commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfyeXrdZZ1o&feature=related

Obligatory photo of my beloved red Nespresso machine:

[CTyankee]

44. Here is the version I like, where all these women don't seem to notice him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6PQ0SrlN2c&NR=1

And there's the mistaken identity at the end and all the while Clooney looks really surprised that women aren't making a big fuss over him.

I really like Lago Maggiore. Very impressive.

I'll be back in Italy again come October. I've designed an "art intensive" with 3 other gal pals. We'll be in and around Florence. My only other trip to Florence was not long enough and I love the idea of settling down in a city for a couple of weeks and getting everything out of it.

[rvablue]

15. Any famous/rich actress trying to sell drug store hair dye by claiming

they use it themselves when you know they don't.

[graywarrior]

19. Ain't that a crock?

[SoxFan]

17. "Tina Fey" and "self-satisfied with its cleverness"?

Who could have possibly seen that coming...

:eyes:

[MrCoffee]

21. That is snark-o-licious

I love Tina Fey, but that response gets a :thumbsup:

[taterguy]

20. Dale Earnhardt for Mr. Goodwrench

I thought the dude had integrity.

I can't believe he sold out to "The Man."

[WildEyedLiberal]

22. Eh, stuff like that doesn't bother me

Unless it was a product that I found particularly odious, or the ad campaign itself was offensive in some way. But if it's just a celebrity lending their celebritiness to an ad campaign... meh. Pretty low on my list of "stuff to get irritated over."

[jmowreader]

23. Oh, THAT John Boy!

The one in The Waltons! I was afraid you were going to tell me the freeper hick on the radio was plugging Mercedes.

Incidentally, you know how you can tell when a redneck gets rich and buys a Mercedes? He puts a gun rack in it.

[yellowdogintexas]

33. I think there are two different actors voiceing for Mercedes. Richard Thomas

definitely is doing some of them, but sometimes I think it is Stephen Schnetzer doing a couple of them. He is New York actor who does stage work and was a long running character on 'Another World' for like 15 years. He has a magnificent voice, a bit deeper than Thomas's.

There are a couple of those commercials that just sound more like him than John-Boy, I think

I could be and probably am wrong on this but Stephen is way cooler than Richard anyway

[WI_DEM]

24. Any old celebrity hawking life insurance

Ed McMahon, Robert Wagner--you name it.

[JitterbugPerfume]

26. Wilfred Brimley

and his damn diabetes commercial

Nothng James Spader could do would irritate me:loveya:

[Iggo]

27. None.

However they turn a buck, more power to 'em.

[Lil Missy]

28. I can't stand William Shatner. He seems like a whiney little priss to me.

[soleiri]

29. all the nutrisystem commercials

But I have a special dislike for the Jillian Barbarie add. 1. She’s was pregnant in the before photo. 2. she’s annoying as hell.

[mitchum]

32. Laurence Olivier for the Garden Weasel

[Bertha Venation]

34. Gene Hackman's voice over for Lowe's.

The man has two Oscars, for sweet christ's sake. :grr:

But who am I? :shrug:

[yellowdogintexas]

35. all Nurti-System and Jenny Craig 'celebrity endorsements'

Morgan Freeman doesn't bother me in his, I like his voice too much.

The voice overs don't bother me nearly as much as the true endorsement ones.

A voice over isn't an endorsement, it is just an acting job that pays very well.

The more I like the actor/actress though, the less it irritates me, and it helps if I also love the product!

[DeepBlueC]

37. Jamie Lee Curtis

for that probiotic yogurt. It makes me cringe.

[AlCzervik]

50. America, have a salad.

[peekaloo]

38. Peter O'Toole for Cialis.

}(


:hi:

[blue_onyx]

39. michael phelps

That Rosetta Stone commercial drives me nuts. I've finally stopped seeing it every 2 seconds. I doubt he was spending hours learning Chinese because he was participating in the Olympics in China.

[Dystopian]

40. Zeppelin - Cadillac

I can't stand hearing their music on those commercials.


peace~

[taterguy]

45. Cadillac wanted the Doors song Break On Through for that campaign

Their drummer John Densmore wouldn't allow it, much to the annoyance of the other surviving members.

[Dystopian]

47. Interesting...

:hi:

Thanks....You've got some great trivia....I had no idea.
Good for him....I can't stand the sellouts.
Let them be annoyed:D
Can't think of any more off the top of my head, but know there's too much music on commercials aimed at the boomers....
peace~

[taterguy]

51. Here's a great article that Densmore wrote about it for the Nation

Enjoy!

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020708/densmore

[Dystopian]

52. Hey, taterguy....

Just found it now...
Thank you very much....a great read!


peace~

[PassingFair]

41. Marie Osmond, pushing ANYTHING.

Especially irritating on the weight loss
ads, because she is just annoying thin
as she is chubby.

She resembles one of her dolls.



:puke:

[KitchenWitch]

48. Allison Janney doing the voice over for Kaiser Permanente

x(

Love Allison Janney, hate Kaiser Permanente (had really bad experiences when they were our "healthcare" provider. Talk about accountants attempting to practice medicine).

[UTUSN]

49. Dennis HOPPER for (I don't even know what product). He's just irritating & off-putting period.

I don't know whether he's a wingnut, Libertarian, or what, but is SO phony and pretentious as a human. Yeah-yeah, he's an "artist."

Saw him on the Graham NORTON show and he was SUCH a nothing. Graham's brain ran circles around him. All HOPPER could come up with were stories of his drug escapades, which supposedly were supposed to make him cool. He ain't cool. He's just (insert all of the previously used derrogatory words here).

[NaturalHigh]

53. Tom Bosley commercials for SMC irritate me.

Of course, it's mainly just because of Tom Bosley.

By the way, Shatner is great on Priceline commercials.

[Sebastian Doyle]

54. The John Boy for Mercedes ads are sure ironic

Seeing as "The Waltons" symbolized depression era poverty, and now he's shilling imported luxury cars in an era when one of the richest families in the world is named.........




You guessed it...... Walton.

Though that would be the Arkansas Waltons, not the West Virginia Waltons.


What really bothers me is the total sellout of The Who's music. What HASN'T it been used to sell in a commercial?

[RFKHumphreyObama]

55. Billy Connally

He keeps popping up on all these ads for some bank or credit institutions obviously trying to be funny or "in" or whatever but he just ends up sounding really tacky and corny. And I don't know, I always thought of him as being sort of anti-establishment type for some reason so I find it very disappointing. But I think his problem now is he's too mainstream -he was better when he was a rising star

[noamnety]

56. ellen degeneras selling makeup

dammit, why is she of all people trying to push that patriarchal crap on the rest of the world?

I guess that's supposed to be progress, but I'm not seeing it that way.