The Money and Life of a Brand Face
To a struggling actor the almost $600 payout for the first
shoot sounds good. The ongoing residuals sound great too. If the ads are
successful the actor has the position to negotiate. An annual deal may be
worked out. With a decent paycheck comes a mix of fame and anonymity. A brand’s
character’s face is everywhere, without the actor’s name. And after the gig is
up? Who is going to hire such a recognizable face to promote another brand?
When you’re the face of a brand, you can expect a morality
clause. Because your face is so closely associated with a brand, you’re
probably better off staying out of the public eye. For example when Jonathan
Goldsmith (most Interesting Man in the World, Dos Equis) threw a fundraiser for
President Barack Obama in September Republicans threatened to boycott the brew.
Ben Curtis, the Dell Dude from 2000-2003 was a college
student at NYU. He said it was hard to be a normal kid at school. His
schoolmates chided him for already having “made it.” When he was arrested in
2003? The charges were eventually dropped and so was his commercial gig. Most
of the money he had made went to paying for his schooling. In 2011 he starred in
an indie film called “We Are the Hartmans.” Curtis also waits tables.
What if the company screws up? In 2008, Steve Warshak of
Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals was sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy, fraud,
and money laundering. The legal struggles were often published adjacent to
Smiling Bob’s image. Today Olcott makes a living working in advertising. He
co-founded an agency in Vancouver.
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