The Big Cat Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 John Goodman- "America Runs on Dunkin'" Christian Slater- "cars.com (or some other online car dealer)" George Clooney- "some crappy Budweiser commercial" Alec Baldwin- "(I can't remember what it was for)" Now if I want talent to do my commercial's voice over, I hire a recognizable voice, like those above. I don't neccesarily need John Goodman (that would cost a ton of $)-the sensible thing is to hire a John Goodman impersonator. Also, from the actor's perspective, commercial voice over (not even face time) has be to be pretty low on the prestige pole. There's a lot of crummy commercials that use what seem to be celebrity talent, but I have to believe it's DECEPTION! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 John Goodman- "America Runs on Dunkin'"Christian Slater- "cars.com (or some other online car dealer)" George Clooney- "some crappy Budweiser commercial" Alec Baldwin- "(I can't remember what it was for)" Now if I want talent to do my commercial's voice over, I hire a recognizable voice, like those above. I don't neccesarily need John Goodman (that would cost a ton of $)-the sensible thing is to hire a John Goodman impersonator. Also, from the actor's perspective, commercial voice over (not even face time) has be to be pretty low on the prestige pole. There's a lot of crummy commercials that use what seem to be celebrity talent, but I have to believe it's DECEPTION! I'm confused ... are you saying the ones you listed are impersonators or the real McCoy? The reason why actors do VO work for commercials in the states rather than use their actual faces is because it gives them distance from the product. A film star doing commercials is reserved for C listers in the past -- but VO (Stanley Tucci does Cingular, Kiefer Sutherland does Apple sometimes and Kevin Spacey does some car ads) seems to be becoming more "acceptable" for A/B Listers these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted April 4, 2007 Author Share Posted April 4, 2007 I'm confused ... are you saying the ones you listed are impersonators or the real McCoy? The reason why actors do VO work for commercials in the states rather than use their actual faces is because it gives them distance from the product. A film star doing commercials is reserved for C listers in the past -- but VO (Stanley Tucci does Cingular, Kiefer Sutherland does Apple sometimes and Kevin Spacey does some car ads) seems to be becoming more "acceptable" for A/B Listers these days. I don't think they're the real mccoy. It was cost the advertisers SO MUCH MORE than an effective impersonator.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 I don't think they're the real mccoy. It was cost the advertisers SO MUCH MORE than an effective impersonator.. They are the real McCoys. At least the ones you mentioned. They do get big contract dollars for the endorsements, but most of the top VO guys (the two guys who do movie trailers or car commercials) command even bigger bucks. VO work is highly paid in the industry and there are very few "top" people who do it. And the companies that are beginning to use actors, aren't small companies. They are huge advertisers with dollars to spend. I really think Mastercard with their Billy Cudrup ads started the trend for actors doing VO work. They saw that he was able to be a part of a huge campaign and still be an "it" actor for a time. It opened the doors. Though, it may have predated that, I'm not sure. That's the first big campaign I remember with a named actor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 I don't think they're the real mccoy. It was cost the advertisers SO MUCH MORE than an effective impersonator.. There are a lot of impersonators on local ads, and it is disgusting, IMO. Usually, National ads have the real deal, or have a disclaimer (all celebrity voices are impersonated). I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 There are a lot of impersonators on local ads, and it is disgusting, IMO. Usually, National ads have the real deal, or have a disclaimer (all celebrity voices are impersonated). I That's a very good point too -- you can't impersonate a voice without having a disclaimer. You'd be running the risk of a lawsuit which would be more expensive than paying the guy you want to impersonate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted April 4, 2007 Author Share Posted April 4, 2007 That's a very good point too -- you can't impersonate a voice without having a disclaimer. You'd be running the risk of a lawsuit which would be more expensive than paying the guy you want to impersonate. but they never say who they are...how can you prove it's an intentional impersonation? is there legal precedent? (serious not sarcastic) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 but they never say who they are...how can you prove it's an intentional impersonation? is there legal precedent? (serious not sarcastic) I have no idea about that, it's a good question that we'll have to refer to one of the lawyers on here. But I do know from reading the trades that at the very least, the spots you mentioned, are the real deal since they are being paid. There's a great episode of Entourage on celebs doing commercials and how that is viewed in the industry. It's worth checking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 tgreg nailed it - the national ads are indeed big name celebs: MSNBC: Twenty years ago, voiceovers were the domain of the baritone radio announcer or the character actor. No longer. These days, more A-list stars than you might imagine are cashing in. Kevin Spacey’s pitching Honda. Kelsey Grammer does Disney. Kiefer Sutherland voices Apple commercials, and his dad, Donald, did Volvo. There’s Queen Latifah (Pizza Hut), Sean Connery (Level 3 Communications), Christian Slater (Panasonic), Gene Hackman (Oppenheimer Funds) — oh, and then there’s Julia Roberts. That’s right, Julia Roberts, in a recent campaign for America Online. Worth the money? It seems no one’s too rich or famous to do a voiceover. It’s not too hard to see why the celebs like it: it’s an easy, lucrative form of work — a few recording sessions where you can show up with messy hair and no makeup. The more difficult question is why advertisers are willing to spend a huge chunk of their budget on a star whose voice, however distinctive, likely won’t be recognized by many. “Honestly, sometimes I’m mystified,” says Maureen Kelly, a casting director who’s worked in the voiceover field for two decades. “I guarantee you most people couldn’t tell the AOL voice was Julia Roberts. I’m just not sure why advertisers spend this astronomical amount of money when the voice isn’t even identifiable.” By astronomical, we’re talking seven figures, easy. Although companies won’t say how much they pay, industry experts say a megastar like Roberts would have to make well into that range. LA TIMES: Latimes.com: Is it really worth it for an advertiser to get only a celebrity's voice? NJ: It is because they generally pick a celebrity with a recognizable voice so they figure people will know who it is. They also use it for internal excitement with the sales staff. They'll go to corporate meeting and say we have so-and-so doing the advertising and the sales staff gets excited and sells twice the volume. You'd be shocked and amazed at what these major advertisers pay for unidentified voice-overs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 As shocking as some of the celeb's salaries are for VO, it's even more shocking to hear how much the professional VO actors get paid. It's a very, very well paid gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted April 4, 2007 Author Share Posted April 4, 2007 As shocking as some of the celeb's salaries are for VO, it's even more shocking to hear how much the professional VO actors get paid. It's a very, very well paid gig. I humbly concede enlightened and thankful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyT Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 If they used an impersonator then you'd be on here saying how weak the company is because they can't even afford to get the actual celebrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted April 4, 2007 Author Share Posted April 4, 2007 If they used an impersonator then you'd be on here saying how weak the company is because they can't even afford to get the actual celebrity. yeah...I would say that... Now if I want talent to do my commercial's voice over, I hire a recognizable voice, like those above. I don't neccesarily need John Goodman (that would cost a ton of $)-the sensible thing is to hire a John Goodman impersonator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyT Posted April 4, 2007 Share Posted April 4, 2007 yeah...I would say that... Thanks for highlighting my point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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