Celebrities who did soda commercials back in the day
Nowadays, soda companies are all about paying celebrities big bucks to push their products. (See Beyoncé’s $50 million endorsement of Pepsi in 2012.) But they used to pick out wannabe stars, including Keanu Reeves, Sofia Vergara, and others, while they were still finding their feet in the industry.
Check out these early videos of today’s celebs before their big break — or at least before they hit peak fame — as they add some fizz to soda commercials.
Keanu Reeves
The future star of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures already had his Ted voice down in a Coca-Cola commercial that appears to be from the 1980s. This clip also doubles as a lesson on how Coke can bring father and son closer together, how hard work can pay off — it’s all there! In 30 seconds.
Sharon Stone
Before her breakthrough role in 1992’s Basic Instinct, Stone plugged Diet Sprite in this gem, which could have doubled as her audition for the Indiana Jones series. Stone does it all in the commercial — jumps on a moving train, dangles from the side of it, climbs atop the moving train, then ducks just in time to dodge a tunnel overhead. She also manages to keep the soda can in her hands the entire time and, somehow, look even more fabulous after doing it. It’s no wonder she had big things ahead.
Demi Moore
Speaking of crazy stunts, Moore pitched Diet Coke in a commercial that rivaled Stone’s in what it required of its leading lady. She had to pretend to fall off a tall building to get a taste of her favorite drink. Presumably, this was just before she worked on the megahit Ghost and posed for that famous Vanity Fair cover that showed her naked while pregnant.
Matt LeBlanc
One of the future Friends was already playing a ladies’ man in a Cherry 7-Up ad from the ’80s — yep, it’s definitely from the ’80s! The way that, “Isn’t it so cool?” keeps being repeated over and over in the background is a reminder. The neon helps, too.
Sofia Vergara
Another future TV star, Sofia Vergara, got hot in a vintage ad for Pepsi that was her first job in the entertainment business. In her native Colombia, a 17-year-old Vergara played a girl who wanted her soda so badly that she was willing to brave the scorching sand to get it. It paid off, because Vergara went on to become the face of Diet Pepsi once she became a household name.
Channing Tatum
Don’t ever get into a car with Tatum if he hasn’t had his Mountain Dew, got it? His commercial for the soft-drink maker, before his fame exploded, explains. Also, do you think he just sent this in as his audition for action movies?
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