A huge banner with the face of Bruce Willis appeared in front of Puck's headquarters a couple of days ago. There’s nothing uncommon about this fact, only this time he wasn’t promoting one of his movies – rather a local bank.
Well, many Hollywood stars take part in advertising campaigns outside of the US, thinking nobody will find out about their lapse from virtue. Previously, they mostly turned to Japan for easy money, but it seems they have discovered a new El Dorado – oil and gas-rich Russia.
We already have Jason Statham selling motor oil and Milla Jovovich persuading women to buy cheap cosmetics. Mr. Willis has now become the latest addition to the squad.
According to Trust Bank’s vice president for communications, Dmitry Chukseev, the company has signed a long-term (“for more than one year”) deal with the 55-year-old actor.
”Ads with Bruce Willis will firstly appear on the Internet and outdoor advertising. A TV-spot, if one will be made at all, will appear only after a year,” he added.
The sum of the contract remains undisclosed, but Vedomosti newspaper has cited unofficial sources, who claim that Trust has paid Willis around $2 million.
“The decision to choose Bruce Willis was not accidental – we had a marketing study, which confirmed that he is an absolute leader in the overall index of perception of the target audience,” Chukseev revealed.
And the pick is really great as for some reason Russian audiences are completely unable to accept the newborn Hollywood stars. (By “newborn” I mean those who have become big over the past decade.) Such names as Jake Gyllenhaal, James Franco or Gerard Butler say nothing to most of the people in my country:
- Have you seen this new hilarious clip, in which Mel Gibson is phoning Christian Bale?- Mel Gibson is phoning whom? – Christian Bale! He plays Batman. – I don’t remember him. Batman is always wearing a mask.But the stars from the previous century – especially, the action heroes of the ’80s (Stallone, Schwarzenegger or Van Damme) – are still regarded with reverence here. That’s why “The Expendables” grossed $14 million in Russia.
The slogan accompanying Willis’s face on the banner is: “Trust – it’s like me, only a bank.”
I have to confess, my mind isn’t twisted enough to understand the meaning of this line. Are they talking about Bruce Willis as a person? That “Trust” is bald and loves cigars? Or are they referring to the characters he has created on screen. If so, then it appears that “Trust” kills people (mostly bad guys, of course).
The Hollywood tough-guy has replaced showman, strength athlete and holder of several records in the Guinness Book, Vladimir Turchinsky, who passed away a year ago, as the face of Trust.
I’m not going to judge Bruce Willis for taking up the Trust proposal. He worked hard to create his image superhero image and has the full right to earn from it. Especially if I tell you that he used to advertise some other stuff in Russia, earlier, without even knowing about it.
Back in 2007, “Die Hard 4.0” was released and Muscovites were really surprised to see such banners in the capital’s streets:
Please, describe what you see in the picture. It is Bruce Willis sitting under a (cedar) tree with a rifle in his hand and an SUV behind his back. Am I right?
No! Your eyes betray you! According to the alcohol producers behind the banners, any similarities with this actor are nothing more than a figment of the imagination. It’s actually local actor Vyacheslav Razbegaev starring in the ad, the slogan of which was simply “Die Hard”.
Well, that’s what they started saying when the 20th Century Fox threatened to take them to court.
As far as I know, Bruce got no money on that occasion. Hope it’ll be all different with Trust.
