Ah, well. I guess we’ve finally figured out what that weird “Brad Pitt joins Chinese Twitter, tells China that he’s coming!” story was all about. Brad isn’t really going to China… at least, not really. Apparently, Brad has signed on to do a commercial for Cadillac, which will air only in China. Basically, Brad is still banned in China but Chinese people still like him enough that they will buy Cadillacs just because he says so?
Brad Pitt wasn’t nominated for an Oscar this year, but the Killing Them Softly star is still a hot commodity on the product endorsement circuit.
E! News has exclusively learned that the much-parodied Chanel No. 5 spokesman has agreed to endorse Cadillac in print ads and TV commercials that will air in China.
Pitt, who a source says will earn $3 million for his promo work, will shoot a spot for the car campaign next week in Los Angeles.
Cadillac had no comment on the hiring, and Pitt’s reps have yet to respond to calls to comment. But lest one think this is just a high-paying job for a random automotive product, E! News has been told Pitt has long kept a Cadillac Escalade in his fleet of vehicles.
Hmm, maybe Pitt’s new gig had something to do with him joining Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, earlier this week. Not to mention his first and only tweet so far.
“It is the truth. Yup, I’m coming…,” he wrote cryptically. Well, not so cryptically, after all.
As you know, many celebrities get millions of dollars to do these advertisements overseas. Sometimes the ads are cute and clever – I’m thinking of George Clooney’s long-standing contract with Nespresso, or that really funny one Clooney did for a Norwegian bank. Sometimes the overseas endorsement deals are kind of budget and cheesy though. So… I have no idea what to expect from Brad. Considering it’s about cars, you know they’ll put a lot of money into it, so it will probably be pretty good. And hopefully it will be much better than his fruity Chanel commercials.
Photos courtesy of Chanel.
It will probably be cheesy but I don’t think most people care. It’s just rich people making more money. Are they officially done with World War Z, or are they going to try and fix it again? I hated the trailer. I mean, I’m not a big Brad Pitt fan but prior to about 3 or 4 years ago I could enjoy the majority of his movies. Now it’s completely opposite and I dislike a majority of his movies. Idk, maybe he’s going through a slump.
@Po …
The release date for “World War Z” is June 21. 2013. And just out of curiosity, which Brad Pitt films have you seen and which were your favorites?
The Legend of the Falls.
So sorry for the extremely late response but I liked Legends of the Fall, Troy, Interview with a Vampire. You know, the ones that come on Sunday afternoons. Easy to watch.
Duuuuude! I mean… seriously, does he need to do these terrible ads and promotions?! Do they force him into them?
I would imagine the money’s a pretty good incentive.
No they don’t force him. He is just greedy. All these celebs always act like they are so above it, better than that and don’t care but we all know it’s all about the money and profits. Give them nice paycheck and they will do total fool of themself.
Agreed! He is a total sellout.
I don’t think Brad acts like he’s above it. Despite the architecture thing and the furniture designing, I don’t think he’s gotten to the level yet where he thinks he’s too much of an “artiste” to say no to a $3M ad that he can finish in a day. He’s been doing these kinds of foreign ads for almost two decades and I think he (and everyone from George to Natalie P, etc.) have come to consider this standard business practice.
I’m far more irritated by guys like James Franco who only wish they were offered that kind of deal just so they could make a big fuss in telling everyone they turned it down because it would damage their craft.
Every time i see brad pitt lately he’s trying to rock this romantic intellectual persona. Look at these pictures! And, does he really have to do these commercials? ?
He did the shoot for those pictures at the same time as the Chanel Ad. Sam Taylor Wood did the stills and Joe Wright did the tv ad. Both he & Angie are great with multi-tasking- with six kids, you’d have to be! Of course he needs money- EVERYBODY needs money. He & Angie work infrequently by choice, sometimes on projects that might not make huge $, but are satisfying artistically. The years have shown that he’d rather work for ONE DAY, make $3-5 M, so he can take huge chunks of time off to be with his family. Nothing new or different here for him or Angie- family first.
Everyone has to admit that they donate a lot. We do not always know all the causes they support. Some money comes from producing, acting and some comes from these ads.
He is not shy about these, and if he thought the ads were beneath him, he would probably won’t do them.
I much rather see him investing the money he earns in movie like Moneyball, or other projects and charities that donating it to $cientology, like TC does.
I do think that TC is a sellout who does cheesy action movies non stop for the money, because he has to donate to his nutty church.
Brad was doing overseas ads BEFORE Clooney- Clooney probably got the idea from him. Since about the mid-90s onwards, Brad has done some really funny Japanese ads for Edwin jeans, watches, coffee drinks, Toyota & various cell phone ads (a bunch are on youtube). Since he & Angie got together, he usually fits in some sort of commercial during one of her set days off- there is a SoftBank (cell) ad that has outtakes where you can see Angie in the background. Bottom line, he gets millions for half a day to two days work. Good for him!
People act like he is the only celeb doing this. And like the Chanel ads or not. The sells went up. Plus I have seen some great pictures of people taking pictures of the ad campaign pics. Kissing them, stealing them.
The ads were not bad. I think people ragged on them more because it was of course Brad Pitt.
He looks great in those pictures.
If I could earn a couple of million from a day’s work I would. Heck even a couple of grand to mooch around promoting some cars why not?
I love the ads he did in Germany for Alice- so funny.
+1
and i guess Fincher (or another great director)will direct the commercial
Brad has been doing foreign ads for at least 10 years. Most celebrities do. I don’t know why the haters are acting like it’s new or desperation. It still always surprises me that eventhough 99% of other people do something, it’s considered a crime when Brad and Angelina do it.
@Amy625 …
Brad has been doing foreign ads longer than that, especially in Japan.
Mmmm…mmm…mmm…the man is hot.
“I want money, lots and lots of money.” dangit, now this song is stuck in my head. meh, he wants to do the commercials so, whatever-he’s got a lot of mouths to feed.
Gross. I don’t think doing business with China is a good idea.
Even if he’s selling an American-made car in China? The US imports an enormous amount from China, including a large percentage of the contents of any Wal-Mart or Target, so it also needs to be able to export in return. I’d rather we were selling green technology or something else Earth-positive, but if the Chinese are going to buy cars (and they are) they might as well buy them from us.
Yeh, especially that borrowing billions of dollars thing…Moron.
Brad Pitt pretends to care about global warming and the environment (re: his post-Katrina New Orleans activism) until it’s time to sell a gas-guzzling car. Just like Beyonce, pretending to care about health & fitness & childhood obesity until it’s time to sell Pepsi.
I have no problem with stars doing advertisements, but please folks, consider the product.
He owns Escalades why not sell them.When has he expressed concern about global warning?
After Hurricane Katrina, he did a great deal of New Orleans-based activism, linking the strength of the storm to global warming in general, and to the overuse of fossil fuels in particular. You know, like the fossil fuels a Cadillac Escalade runs on.
What makes this endorsement especially hypocritical is that China in particular has some of the foulest air pollution on the planet. It’s so bad that Communist Party officials have been forced to finally allow the Chinese press to report on it. There’s a NYT article published on it today (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/world/asia/china-allows-media-to-report-alarming-air-pollution-crisis.html?_r=0).
Not a very eco-friendly endorsement.
He is promoting exports of articles made by Americans… Is that bad too?
Let’s get that Chinese money (it is “our” money anyway, many things we buy are made in China!)
Oh yeah! That was my 1st thought when I read the headline for this story. Activist Brad selling Caddies? REALLY?
Whatever. I’ve been over him for years.
His green building ideas are being adopted all over the world as is his revolutionary building dignified housing for the poor stance. Building green is not only for the rich- amazing. He never said to stop driving cars that was Leo D. Brad has been pictured riding a bicycle which is more than you can say for most of Hollywood.
Well let’s just hope he doesn’t make a complete tit out of himself like he did in the Chanel one.
Ad increased sales and awareness so it was a success.
Yeah, but it chipped away at his believability as a romantic lead, so maybe not such a success after all.
Brad hasn’t wanted to play a romantic lead EVER, and the last one he did was Mr. & Mrs. Smith (which was more of an action/comedy). Ben Button had some romance, but that was so not the point of that movie. So, if you feel Chanel tarnishes his romantic lead prospects (besides, he’s almost 50), Brad would be THRILLED. And, yes, Channel paid him a TON of money, but they got it back x100 in sales, brand awareness, and customer interaction. There are pictures all over twitter & instagram from all over the world of people talking with the Brad pictures, having coffee with the Brad pictures & kissing the Brad pictures to say nothing of the all the pictures of just the displays themselves- all free advertising for Chanel. Chanel is very, very pleased.
The Chanel ads were are joke. Don’t try and pretend that they weren’t. Nothing to be proud of.
So he’s not arsed about Tibet now?
Anybody that has an i-phone is betraying Tibet, so why single out him? He actually was a part of a piece of art that made a clear, educational statement on what happened in Tibet, so he’s done more than most to shed light on it.
Well, I’m singling him out because he’s doing an ad for $3million and he made 7 Years in Tibet. But I guess he’s already answered my question…
If i never see anything else about brad pitt I’d be happy. 🙂
Brad already did a lot of commercials abroad. my favorite is with a bank in Japan with a Sumo.
Me too!
my baby can do no wrong! : )
Promoting perfumes and automobiles – two of the worlds major every day pollutants – great for the kids.
Good for him. I like Brad and he is a great businessman. Get money Brad baby.
Can’t wait to see the SNL version.
Meh he has a target on his back with some and he will never escape their derision no matter what. Every act of charity isnt enough and every paycheck a sign of greed. Methinks its sour grapes.
+1 x100000.
I say good for him. He has a ton of kids he needs to support. 🙂
That’s Funny ,non fans concerned about his acting career.Brad has already stated his days where acting is his primary career are almost over.He prefers being a producer and designer,and family many.I say make $3million for a few days work endorsing a product you use.Ive seen pics of him in Escalades.
so somebody claims that sales on Chanel no.5 went up due to the advert? I find that very hard to believe. Apart from the fact that the juice has been reformulated to an unrecognisable insult to it’s former self (watered down to oblivion too), his cringe-worthy babbling whilst looking like a homeless guy only put further nails on the coffin.
Well Chanel said and believed they went up because of him. the fact you don’t believe it is well.. doesn’t really matter.
and again any time Brad or Angie do anything all the social conscious people come out. Brad has never ever painted himself as an extreme environmentalist. He has tried to incorporated GREEN Design in building. But he has never been all out front saying don’t drive certain cars or whatever.
Finally Brad Pitt has found his niche in TV commercials.
I’m tired of seeing his B-grade acting in films. I’d rather watch the Virgin mobile phone adverts with his brother!
Brad… my man.
You are STILL FINE as hell. Keep your swagger.
Producer, successful businessman, globetrotter, Angie’s man, Big Daddy, philanthropist, humanitarian, actor…indeed, he is a fortunate, prosperous, wealthy man.
His name is name-dropped more than ANY other actor for recognition, for publicity.
Keep up the great things that you do. You write the book while all the others are just reading it.
If he didn’t have… uh… seven? eight? kids, I’d question his decision to accept a specifically Chinese high-dollar contract. While Cadillacs are not made by semi-enslaved Chinese labor, certain fat cats of China who benefit from that labor will also benefit from this.
But Brad and Angie aren’t especially big spenders (they do seem to go for quality, but not quantity or glitz). So I’m hoping he’s doing this because he has a big-ass family, which is a decision I cannot argue with.