Coming soon on heels of the global fast food chain Burger King’s announcement they were retiring their beloved, yet disquieting (read, eerily quiet) monarch mascot comes a revelation from Europe. It turns out British favorite Clive Owen has reduced himself to the role of spokesman for the burger chain, appearing in commercial spots running in Spain. It is a perplexing turn for the actor, who is not struggling for work and has a number of releases coming this year.
Now Hollywood luminaries shilling, or even selling out entirely, for conglomerates abroad in a TV spot is not itself newsworthy. Websites have for years chronicled this practice, and Sofia Coppola’s beloved Lost in Translation was centered on Bill Murray’s aged thespian hawking scotch in Japan. Hell, Julia Roberts seemingly dedicates as much time to this activity as she does to her craft. What is curious here is that Owen does not strike as an actor struggling for work, nor in the twilight of his career – those being the two primary motivators for actors chasing the quick and easy paycheck. (Roberts, for example, pocketed a cool $1 million for her stand-sip-smile “performance”.) Quite the contrary, Owen is not only a respected actor but one people normally look to with anticipation. His is a career unusually free from harsh embarrassments (maybe King Arthur was the smudge) and if anything his biggest disappointment may in fact be getting passed over for Daniel Craig as Her Majesty’s Biggest Playboy.
Although Owen is no stranger to corporate command performances; he appeared in a well-respected series of action-heavy short films for BMW, in the role of The Driver. Those occurred very early on his resume, however. This is a move that sparks curiosity, and the commercial itself, with a Montalban-esque voice-over, inspires a number of questions:
- How exactly do they get away with hawking their wares while having Owen enjoying their product in what appears to be, at minimum, a four-star restaurant?
- In Spain do they cast children’s roles by having young actors audition in outfits that designate them as Seusian players, like Thing-1, Thing-2, ect.?
- Was Antonio Bandaras not available, or did he command too much money? (You can scoff at his Nasonex commercials, but he does get to hide behind a bumble bee façade.)
- Based on the fact that he is driven to a restaurant in a golf cart do we assume there are B-K Lounge locations on Spanish movie sets?
Note: Had a YouTube video of this but it has since been removed.
11 comments
Clive Owen likes Burger King.
You know, I actually, finally, made an account. I’ve seen a few too many writers on here bash a little unnecessarily.
But, to the topic at hand; I was actually thinking the same thing garageman posted above. Maybe he really does just like the place. I’ve got dreams and aspirations, and if I succeed, you better believe Taco Bell would have a brand new smilin’ face chuckin’ their gorditas.
No matter how many bad ass movies I become attached to(read:optimism), I’ll still jump at an opportunity to endorse one of my favorite fine dining eateries.
And it looks like I should start double spacing.
Clive Owen has a good sense of humor, and maybe this seemed like a fun way to earn a quick buck. Everything before the bullet points is pretty unnecessary, but those were amusing. I agree with the poster above, that if I ever made it big, I’d jump at the chance to promote something I love or use all the time, or something that got me to where I am today. Expect my Top Ramen ads to start airing in 2014…
This reminds me, it would be a hell of a thing if Burger King, or anyone else for that matter, reached out and tried to get more celebrities that appeared in their ads EARLY in their careers to reprise their roles in homages to the ads they were in 20-30 years ago or whatever. They could be digitally inserted into old footage or it could be completely re-made with the rest of the featured players being a bit more age appropriate. I’d find it pretty amusing to see Brad Pitt or someone like that just manning the fry station, essentially doing nothing (a lot of these guys weren’t even the star of their own commercials), while some kid tries to sell me burgers.
I just thought about it some more, and I really believe that a Top Ramen campaign fueled by A-List talent would be fucking amazing. EVERYONE that’s tried to support themselves has had to live on that stuff at some time or another.
I can’t really hate on this, stars are always doing these batshit commercials overseas. YouTube search “Nic Cage Pachinko” if you want to have your mind blown. Might be the man’s finest work.
Don’t misunderstand, I wasn’t bashing Owen. I really have no problem with star endorsements, be they voice-over work for batteries or outright pitchmen as the face of a company. What is odd about this is Owen seemingly slipping into that niche of the star doing this on the sly abroad.
Japan has long been the realm of stars getting the quick paycheck as their career is waning, but it has grown into other territories. If Owen is a fan, or has a sense of humor about this (as he seems here) why did he not film ads in English as well, to at least play in his native Britain? The voice over here actually detracts from the impact.
Since my original embed was taken down here’s the link to the video.
http://youtu.be/LeGPKEJ4ZUo
Someone like Christian Bale endorsing Burger King would certainly cause raised eyebrows and laughter (“Do you want me to trash your whopper?”). Clive Owen not so much. Sure he’s a respected thesp who’s not hurting for work, but he’s a laid back dude and the quick buck definitely appealed to him. But the idea that he did it because he LIKES Burger King is a little naive and ludicrous.
Anyone see Shoot ’em Up? Yeah, Clive doesn’t take himself too seriously. And you can do alot worse than a Whopper Jr. with cheese and no mayo.
My apologies. You have a good point.
The montage of commercials from Zoolander ran through my head as I read your reply. I really like that movie, so I’m calling that a compliment.
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