If you’ve ever traveled abroad, then you’ve probably had the disconcerting experience of running into a well-known Western celebrity holding a bottle of liquor on a billboard. (If not, think of Bill Murray’s character in Lost In Translation.) We’ve scoured the Internet to find some of the weirdest celebrity television ads from the past 40 years, which include odd product pitches from Iggy Pop, Johnny Rotten, and Nicolas Cage. After the jump watch musicians, athletes, and film stars sell their wares and let us know if you think they’re making an honest living or just plain selling out.
Iggy Pop – Swiftcover.com (Great Britain) Who would have guessed that a pants-dropping, drug-injecting punk rock provocateur would have become a car insurance salesman?
Snoop Dogg – Vybemobile (Germany) Snoop Dogg hawks cell phones as Roy Black, a German singer and actor who died in the early ’90s.
George Clooney – Nespresso (Europe) George Clooney purchases an espresso machine, walks out of the store, and is hit by a falling piano. He winds up in heaven, where John Malkovich is God.
Leonardo DiCaprio – Telecom Italia (Italy) In what may be the worst cell phone commercial ever, Leonardo DiCaprio is in a field communing with nature when he’s disturbed by the vibrations from a text message.
Bruce Willis – Seagrams (US) In the late ’80s, quintessential action hero Bruce Willis starred in a series of ads for Seagrams wine coolers…
Nicolas Cage – Sankyo (Japan) We’re not quite sure what kind of product this is, but Sankyo has Nic Cage seeing triplets.
John Lydon – Country Life Butter (Great Britain) Johnny “Rotten” Lydon abandons his youthful principles to sell condiments to English housewives.
Joe Namath – Beautymist Pantyhose (US) In an effort show that Beautymist Pantyhose can make any woman’s legs look good, former Jets quarterback Joe Namath inexplicably tries them on for size.
Mr. T – FlavorWave Oven (US) According to Mr. T in this infomercial, the FlavorWave Oven helps him keep his “waistline beautiful.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger – Beer Commercial (Japan) All we have to say is, did the voters of the state of California see this before they elected this man governor?