Subscribe to ListverseTop 10 Celebrity Commercials
- Published October 30, 2007 - 44 Comments
This is a list of ten commercials made by celebrities before they attained fame. Some are bad, some are mediocre, but none are good! Here is the list of top 10 celebrity commercials.
10. Elijah Wood Pizza Hut
I don’t think Elijah has grown much since making this commercial. The best part is when he throws a pile of what appears to be mashed potatoes in his sister’s face!
9. Jodie Foster McDonald’s Commercial
Jodie doesn’t do much in this clip – but she is definitely there. I must say – the guy playing Ronald is a bit scary – how the hell did McDonald’s succeed as a company with a mascot like that?
8. Meg Ryan Aim Toothpaste
Here is a very preppy Meg Ryan lending her Aim mint to two friends. Ra ra ra!
7. Matt Leblanc Heinz Ketchup
Here we have a younger, but still cheesy, Matt Leblanc. Love the wink!
6. Keanu Reeves Corn Flakes
Can’t act now, couldn’t act then – it’s Keanu Reeves setting up a table for breakfast and having a sneaky nibble himself.
5. Leonardo DiCaprio Bubble Yum
Even as a kid Leonardo DiCaprio had a very serious face. Here we see him comparing the bang from Bubble Yum with the beats from a boombox. Ah, the eighties.
4. Brad Pitt Pringles
My guess is that Brad was not chosen for this part for his acting skills.
3. Demi Moore Diet Coke
When Demi made this commercial, she had already starred in a few films, though the only truly notable one was St. Elmo’s Fire. Despite what I said in the first paragraph, this actually is quite a funny commercial.
2. Morgan Freeman Listerine
Despite the ad being very corny, Morgan Freeman is not all that bad here! Who would have known he would go on to such great things?
1. Bruce Willis Seagrams
Not only does Bruce Willis sing in this advert, he dances! Watch out for the ballet move at about -00:12.
Bonus: Sarah Michelle Gellar Burger King
Sarah Michelle Gellar is almost unrecognizable in this commercial.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Horrifying, truly horrifying. But they’re still funny to watch!
October 30th, 2007 at 8:59 am
its very common to see huge stars go to places like japan to do commercials theyd never do here. someone should find the top teen stars doing japanense commercials. MR SPARKLER!
October 30th, 2007 at 9:06 am
How cute was Sarah Michelle Gellar???
October 30th, 2007 at 9:13 am
I can’t _believe_ you left out Little Richard in that classic Geico commercial:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Em-b0wQzQ-0
Even better, The Daily Show’s parody:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M_pnQ-zrzSQ
October 30th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Ohhhh, wait, I missed the ‘before they were famous’ bit. Okay, then it makes _perfect sense_ that you didn’t include the Little Richard one. My bad.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:16 am
FekketCentenel: hahaha that is hilarious! It doesn’t fit on the list though because he is in the ad because of his fame – the ones on the list were all either not famous, or just getting started
I am very glad you put it in the comments though – great commercial.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:16 am
The only commercial that has stuck in my mind over these many years was one made by Raquel Welch in which she comes out of a swimming pool or beach. And no I am not referring to the Sinatra movie. If only I can find a clip of this commercial !!
October 30th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Niecy: to be honest – I can’t stand her as an adult, and that really puts me off even though she is just a little kid in the one above.
evan: yeah – that would make a great list – I saw a lot of them as I was gathering these ones up from youtube. Another good one would be just plain hilarious commercials. Or brilliant commercials.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Tony: I just did a quick search on youtube and didn’t find it – maybe it is one of those clips that hasn’t made it yet.
Anthony: yeah – I actually laughed out loud at the Demi Moore one.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Hey jfrater, I have a question. What kind of inspiration do you get when you want to make a list? Do you just wake up in the morning and say, “Hey you know what?. I’ll make a list of this, or list of that, and so on and so on.”? Please Reply. Thanks!
October 30th, 2007 at 9:56 am
SubliminalDeath666: That is pretty much exactly what I do – I usually go through my hand written list of potential lists and see if it inspires me. Then I start working on the “today in history” and “hotlinks” and sometimes they give me ideas for something that might make a good list. Often when I start the first one the research makes me think of another good one for later. I think the fact that I can write about anything I want to helps to make it easier to update the site so often.
I wrote an update article that describes my daily process – you might find that interesting to read
October 30th, 2007 at 10:08 am
What, No Ben Aflec “Here comes the science”?
/IIRC it’s head and Shoulders shampoo…must resist the urge to youtube at work.
October 30th, 2007 at 10:13 am
tanstaafly4y: He was already famous when he did that one – that excludes him from the list according to the first paragraph
October 30th, 2007 at 11:15 am
I remembered seeing this one a while back and & sure enough I found it on you tube. It’s Dustin Hoffman doing a VW commercial.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:42 am
You might want to consider a list of advertisements with surprising voice-overs. I’m thinking specifically of Antonio Banderas as the animated bee in the U.S. Nasonex commercials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrUF3JzD9P4 (Goofy, but at least more watchable than Jerry Seinfeld the bee).
October 30th, 2007 at 11:55 am
I wonder if the Morgan Freeman commercial was before he was starring in a pbs kids show called The Electric Company back in the 70″s. He shure is one hell of an actor.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:59 am
This is a fun list and has sparked some memories of other TV ads with future stars.
Here is another one thats fun to look at. It’s Ferrah Fawcett about a year before she did Charlie’s Angels
October 30th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
oh man, the Jason Alexander McDLT commercial is classic… that’s at least top 10
October 30th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
What about the Courtney Cox tampax advert?! (Or was she famous by then? Does one Bruce Springstein video count as fame?!)
October 30th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
petey mcgee – I forgot about that – first thing in the morning he will be added as bonus 2
October 30th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Seth Green’s NERF commercial, complete with the most unacceptable haircut of the 90s.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-1ZQoE1fdgY
October 30th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I think Jason Alexander would love to get work in McDonald’s commercials these days.
October 30th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Dr. Goodtimes: ouch! And yet so true
October 30th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
You have to at least consider the Tiger Woods commercial for Nike where he bounces a ball at the end of a club for several seconds, seemingly without effort, and then crushes it as he sends it flying down the fairway.
I’m not even a golfer and I thought that was brilliant.
BTW, I really enjoy the site.
H.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Sorry, but Arnold Schwarzenegger takes the cake when it comes to commercials.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY5xIavvl6Y
October 30th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Great list. Theres a youtube archive of japanese commercials with american stars is @ http://youtube.com/user/JapanAds that you could probably put together a great list from.
October 30th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
In Bruce Willis’ ad he throws a punch towards that guitarist. And fails. That’s VERY funny.
October 31st, 2007 at 4:08 am
Howard Joudoin: good addition but the list is about ones made before they became famous
Brian Moo: what the hell is the product he is advertising? Those are weird.
cathal: thanks – that could come in very handy!
Carlos Mal Pacheco: haha I noticed that – maybe he fell off balance during his pirouette
October 31st, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Hehe…good list.
October 31st, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Great list. One question: Toothpaste didn’t always come in mint???? What was it before?
November 1st, 2007 at 6:25 am
I remember a lot of these ads, but didn’t recognize the celebrities. But then, I never recognize celebrities in public either.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:17 am
Wow, jfrater. i cant imagine what must of happened to cause so much bad blood between you and keanu reeves. haha
November 1st, 2007 at 10:03 am
zombiejorge: I can’t talk about it – the memory is too painful!
November 1st, 2007 at 6:15 pm
anyone remember Jack Black doing an ad for Pitfall for the Atari 2600?
How about Phil Hartman (SNL) doing a commercial for a hockey game for the Atari 2600?
This is a MUST see if you wanna see him flip out!lol
November 3rd, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Where is Paul Rudd for Nintendo?!
December 12th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Haha. Ever seen the Michael J. Fox one?
Except I think he was already famous at that point. Oh well, it’s hilarious anyway.
January 19th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I never knew that Grimace was evil or had 4 arms.
February 12th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
there is a commercial of danny masterson (Hyde, from that ’70s show) for apple jacks i think…i cant find it on youtube though.
Heres one of julia stiles doing an apple jacks one -
jaleel white doing one -
June 28th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Sammy Davis, Jr doing “Man oh Maneschevitz” How can that not be here? Also what balletic move for Bruce Willis. Watched it twice. Never saw it. Maybe as a dancer, I didn’t rercognize it as being “balletic”
June 28th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Oops! Forgot about the part where you said before they were famous. Sammy was after he was famous. Same with Ringo Starr doing Bartles and James. Still, too funny!
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
How about the one with Evangeline Lilly (Kate on LOST)?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CZ6hIEqKR7A
November 11th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
omg, every time I say Keanu Reeves can’t act, I get called an idiot. I’m glad at least someone agrees with me!
February 12th, 2009 at 9:44 am
hahaha!! morgan freeman? i love that man!