Big movie stars are known for doing lucrative commercials in foreign countries, like those Japanese bank ads Brad Pitt and Wes Anderson did. It is, however, very rare to see a star of Will Ferrell's stature shilling on American television.
But there he inexplicably is, in 19 (yes, 19!) 30-second spots promoting Old Milwaukee beer. What kind of big money offer did Pabst Brewing Co. dangle in front of Ferrell to get him pushing their beverage?
Try $0 (zero) dollars.
The Quad-City Times reports that the "Old School" star personally approached the company to write, direct, and star in the ads himself for free, to only be aired in their mid-west shooting locations like Davenport, Iowa and Terre Haute, Indiana.
"Will approached Old Milwaukee because he’s a big fan of the beer and thought it would be fun to make the commercials, and we couldn’t be more excited that he did,” said Pabst chief marketing officer Bryan Crowley.
Was this an elaborate excuse to have some kind of lost weekend-style bender in a low-profile city? Is Ferrell making a tongue-in-cheek commentary about the commercialization of America?
Perhaps, just perhaps, the dude just really likes the smooth, clean taste of an ice cold Old Milwaukee.
