When celebrities need money, advertising answers the call

We all know by now that celebrity sells — the potency of a celebrity endorsement has been written about for decades. Brands benefit while celebrities can turn their fame into currency, helping fuel lifestyles that make them the envy of everyone else (and possibly helped make them achieve their 'celebrity' status in the first place).

But sometimes such endorsements are not just naked greed — they're driven by necessity. For celebrities whose fortunes have taken a hit, whose careers have stalled, who are going through a messy divorce, or whose tax bills have become particularly troublesome, a few ads on the side can offer a big boost (and sometimes a financial lifeline).

Some are shameless (see Sarah Ferguson), others are knowing and play to the participant's own financial woes (see MC Hammer and Kerry Katona), but all show that advertising can provide a useful source of income when careers hit the skids, money is tight, or soles turn into uppers.

We take a look at a few examples.

John Cleese — Specsavers

In 2011, following his divorce from his third wife, Alyce Faye Eichelberger, Cleese embarked on his The Alimony Tour in a bid to recoup some of the $20m he was forced to pay out following the acrimonious split after 16 years of marriage.

It was not the first time Cleese turned to the stage to pay his alimony. He previously took his A Ludicrous Evening with John Cleese... or How to Finance Your Divorce tour to Scandinavia.

Talking about his third wife in 2024, Cleese told Saga: “Can you believe when I met her, I had a beautiful house in Holland Park and no mortgage and when I broke up with her, I had a flat in Sloane Square and a full mortgage?.”

Perhaps it's little wonder that Cleese turned to advertising to also help top up his earnings — he has lent his name to Sainsbury's, Schweppes, and The AA - but this 2015 ad saw Cleese reprise his iconic role as Basil Fawlty for Specsavers. The spot recreates his famous 1975 Fawlty Towers scene where he thrashes his broken-down car with a branch, but with a comedic twist: due to bad eyesight, he mistakenly attacks a police car instead.

Sarah Ferguson - various

The disgraced former Duchess of York has turned to advertising — among many other egregious money-making schemes — on numerous occasions, but her 11 year partnership with Weight Watchers is probably the most famous.

Having run up debts with Coutts of £4.2m that were accruing interest payments of £1,100 per day, she was recruited to help re-energize the brand's international profile following her own weight loss 'journey'.

But given the state of her finances it was probably even more absurd for the investment house Charles Schwab to subsequently hire her, for £400,000 over two years, to dispense financial advice. She told prospective investors: "Financial security doesn't have to be a fairy tale."

Sadly, as has subsequently been proven, Ferguson's own grasp of reality was very much away with the fairies. It's now difficult to think of any other company that might still be interested in seeking her endorsement now that Raleigh has discontinued its Grifter brand.

Kerry Katona — Cash Lady

In 2004 the troubled former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona was made the face of the frozen supermarket Iceland, having won I'm A Celebrity... that year. However in 2009 she was dropped by the brand following allegations of drug use. At the time, despite having stood by her through other misadventures — including slurring through an infamous interview on This Morning — Iceland said it would be "impossible" for her to continue in the family-friendly role.

Fortunately/unfortunately in 2012 the high-interest pay day loan company Cash Lady signed up Katona, who had been made declared bankrupt in 2008 after failing to pay a tax bill, to front its advertising in which she also referred to her financial woes.

"We've all had money troubles at some point, I know I have," she intoned. "You could see your bank and fill in loads of forms, but is there an easier way to get a loan… it's dead fast too. Fast cash for fast lives." Cash Lady offered an APR of 2,760 per cent.

The ad was banned by the ASA, which ruled that it was "irresponsible" (which is why you can't find the ad online but you can see it here). The ASA said that viewers familiar with Katona would have been well aware of her "widely publicised" bankruptcy and that suggesting such an alternative financial route was not an appropriate one.

MC Hammer — Nationwide Insurance

Nationwide Insurance in the US was just one of many brands that Hammer turned to following his spectacular 1996 bankruptcy — but in this spot he pulls off a masterstroke making light of the situation.

The ad pokes fun at the rapid rise and fall of 1990s pop-culture fame and financial shifts, of which Hammer was both a beneficiary and a victim. Hammer is shown dancing outside a massive, luxurious mansion with his backup dancers, singing his signature track "U Can't Touch This". But moments later, reality hits — a "Foreclosed" real estate sign pops up next to him, illustrating how quickly financial circumstances can change.

His other advertising credits include KFC, Pepsi, Taco Bell, Nike, Lays, and Cash4Gold.

Orson Welles - Paul Masson

In the late 1970s, filmmaker Orson Welles became the face of Paul Masson California wines, delivering the iconic tagline, "We will sell no wine before its time" (one time famously while drunk).

While Welles was a cinematic genius responsible for Citizen Kane, by this stage of his career, Hollywood studios viewed him as un-directable and financially risky. Facing a lack of traditional film offers, Welles turned to high-paying commercial work (bad-tempered voices for Findus being one example) as a practical way to survive and, more importantly, to self-fund his independent, passion-driven film projects.

The partnership was an immense financial success for both parties, boosting Paul Masson’s wine sales by roughly 30 per cent and paying Welles an annual salary of $500,000. This lucrative income allowed him to maintain his creative independence, although his final film The Other Side of the Wind wasn't completed until 2018, some thirty-three years after his death.

Mike Tyson - Footlocker

As one of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions of all time, Mike Tyson was estimated to have made an astonishing $430m from fights and endorsement deals at the peak of his career. However following extravagant spending (including a $2m gold bath for his then wife Robin Givens, a collection of Bengal tigers, mega-mansions, 19 super-cars, and jewellery) in 2003, less than a decade after his release from prison, the sports star filed for Chapter II bankruptcy protection.

Although Tyson officially retired from the ring in 2005, the former boxing star has managed to reclaim some of his fortune through smart business moves, including his Tyson Ranch cannabis business, as well as appearances in hit movies such as The Hangover and Rocky Balboa.

Advertising played its part resurrecting his fortunes too. In 2013 he gave Evander Holyfield his ear back, 16 years after biting it off in the ring, in a tongue-in-cheek campaign for Foot Locker. "I’m sorry, Evander," a conciliatory looking Tyson tells Holyfield when he turns up at his front door proffering the type of box that might contain an engagement ring. "It’s your ear," he says, before opening the box proposal-style and embracing his former rival.

And finally one celebrity who didn't make an ad to help himself out of a sticky situation but who later ended up in one anyway.....

Nicolas Cage - Sankyo Pachinko

Hollywood stars have often turned to Japan (here are some examples from Sean Connery, David Bowie, and Mickey Rourke) to make ads - a trend known as 'Japandering'. The reason: the ads would not be seen in their domestic markets thereby threatening what credibility they claimed they had, as well as proving to be a nice little earner.

In the early 2000s Nicolas Cage starred in a series of surreal, high-energy television commercials for Sankyo, a Japanese manufacturer of pachinko and pinball-slot gaming machines. These surreal advertisements featured signature chaotic "Cage-ian" acting and have since become viral cult classics.

While Cage was at the time financially secure he used his earnings from this time to embark on what was described as a "shopping spree" comprising 15 houses; 22 cars (including nine Rolls Royces), 12 purchases of expensive jewellery, and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items.

Following the 2008 housing crash he lost much of his $150m fortune and the following year the Internal Revenue Service filed documents concerning unpaid federal taxes. This amounted to over $6.2m for 2007 alone.

Though characteristic hard graft, by 2022 Cage confirmed that he had finally paid off his debts and intended to be more selective with his film roles. But hopefully he might make some more ads like this one.