web counter
 

George Clooney Defending His Overseas Coffee Commercials: "You Know What, F**k You.'"

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (55)

George-Clooney-Nespresso.jpg

(Via Buzzfeed)


Could this man be any more spectacular? He and Michelle Williams should get ALL the Oscars, and dole them out to whomever they see fit.

And you know what? Those coffee commercials are pretty fucking great. Here’s one with John Malkovich as a gatekeeper in heaven.

Here’s another Soderberghian one directed by Grant Heslov.

And a really great one with Camilla Bella.










Each Time You Like, Share, Tweet or Stumble a Pajiba Post, An Angel Does the Paul Rudd Dance

← For Those About To Rock, We Salute You: The Best Fictitious Movie Bands | You Wanna Screw And Eat Your Way To Extinction, America? Technology Is On Your Side. →









Comments

Damn now I want a Nespresso. And Camilla Belle.

Posted by: John W at January 24, 2012 9:12 PM

I just can't. I just can't have a problem with him.

Posted by: Jay at January 24, 2012 9:19 PM

Call me crazy, but I think The Swinton looks hot with her hair like that. Me gusta.

Posted by: The Kilted Yaksman at January 24, 2012 9:21 PM

Call me crazy

I'll do no such thing.

Posted by: Jay at January 24, 2012 9:22 PM

Really? The Smugness of George Clooney just....EXUDES from the screen. I can't stand him. I simply can't.

Posted by: Littlejon2001 at January 24, 2012 9:37 PM

And I will eat his smugness by the bucketload. Along with various other Clooney-related effluvia.

Posted by: Jerry at January 24, 2012 9:53 PM

And just like that, I love George Clooney again. But not as much as I love SWINTON.

Posted by: Az at January 24, 2012 10:02 PM

Clooney earned his smugness. He did his time in the tenches. Even though his family was rich and famous, he started out the same way a hick from the stix would. Commercials and cheesy movies and cheesier TV shows. He got to the top on talent, and now he uses his clout to make great films. He's the man.

Posted by: The Mutt at January 24, 2012 10:49 PM

Sorry. He's still a douche.

Posted by: klingonfree at January 24, 2012 11:10 PM

If Clooney isn't being honest there then he really is a good actor.

Posted by: Dave at January 24, 2012 11:37 PM

Clooney and Cruise. Doing their jobs well. I love it.

Posted by: John at January 25, 2012 12:05 AM

Firstly: those commercials were awesome, and I will now be slightly disappointed if I show up at the pearly gates of heaven and John Malkovich isn't there to greet me.
Secondly: The fact that the first thing Clooney did in that commercial was look for a pen and not ask for money in exchange for the autograph, even in a totally scripted commercial, would've raised my estimation of him.
Lastly: My opinion of George Clooney has varied greatly over the years, mostly dependent on the quality of his movies and almost never on the quality of his personality. The fact that he wants to make movies that last and that he doesn't come with some outrageous price (and honestly, that was being recorded and he knew it. Why would he lie? Any naysayer with internet access could look up how much those movies cost and call him a liar) means he's easily my favorite person in Hollywood right now.

Posted by: AngelArm45 at January 25, 2012 1:00 AM

John Malkovich looks a lot like George Carlin. Then again, you wouldn't see George at the gates of Heaven.

Posted by: Nono at January 25, 2012 1:06 AM

Celebrities are NOT moral heroes who are too good for simply being spokesmodels for corporations. The vast majority of movie stars and musicians that are popular in America are little more than pitchmen for the short-lived products that pass for movies and music today.

At least in Asia, celebrities know their place, and even top stars will actually be FLATTERED to be asked to endorse smartphones or refrigerators.

I don't want to live in a world where Shia Labouef and Kristin Stewart honestly think they're artists with things to say.

Posted by: Chris JL at January 25, 2012 2:51 AM

That's all fine and dandy, but having had my face rubbed in those commercials at least three times per commercial break I think I can honestly say:

Well fuck you too, Clooney.

Posted by: Zirze at January 25, 2012 3:43 AM

I taught in a French school for a while. Whenever I wanted them to come up with ideas or words I'd start saying, "that's good, what else?" and they'd all chorus "NESPRESSO". I eventually had to ban the word and all mention of Clooney just so lessons could keep happening. Twas a terrible day.

Posted by: sprophet at January 25, 2012 5:06 AM

I don't give a fuck how unrealistic and idealistic and naive and just plain fucking Hicks-regurgitating it makes me sound, if you wanna be an 'artist', you can't do ads. They're mutually exclusive worlds.

I don't think naivety is in and of itself a bad thing. The danger is confusing it with ignorance. But being smart enough to notice that the world is fucked and still deciding to go along with it is even worse.

For argument's sake, let's say Clooney is a great actor (I like the dude, but his skills I'm undecided about). Combining this assumed greatness with his massive success is, to me, a recipe for disdain for doing ads. He doesn't need the money. He's not a struggling actor. If Clooney sees nothing wrong with ads, then he's ignorant. If he does see something wrong and, as an 'informed realist', goes ahead with them regardless, then he's even worse. If a LaBeouf turns his nose up at an ad, the instinct might be to scoff. But I see nothing wrong with striving. Of course he'd also have to strive in his medium too, but that's another question.

Posted by: zeke the pig at January 25, 2012 5:42 AM

It bothers me that Clooney is happy to promote Nestle, a company that's built on violating human rights.

Posted by: Kate at January 25, 2012 6:05 AM

Urgh, that last one has been on every single commercial break on Italian Sky for months. I hate it now!!!! But I love my Nespresso, to my utmost shame.

Posted by: marigi at January 25, 2012 6:17 AM

Posted by: zeke the pig..

I don't give a fuck how unrealistic and idealistic and naive and just plain fucking Hicks-regurgitating it makes me sound, if you wanna be an 'artist', you can't do ads. They're mutually exclusive worlds.

Yes. Thank you. A few years ago Russell Crowe had some things to say about Clooney's whorishnes:

"The job is to take on other characters, otherwise you could just call every character you play the same name. What's the character in this film, George? George, is it? George plays George in the new movie, George.

"I believe if you take on characters for a living, you can't make yourself into an icon in order to sell a pair of shoes." -

Seriously Pajiba. Praising a rich huckster for raking in mega bucks shilling for a huge corporation and saying big fuck you to people who point out his whoriness? Where are your priorities?

Posted by: sunny at January 25, 2012 8:09 AM

Nono, you're right, George Carlin would never be degraded to the position of gatekeeper. He'd put up a sign saying "Keep out. Or come in. I really don't give a fuck. Especially not when you're George Clooney." And then he'd go down to hell and hang out with the interesting people.

That said, I have to admit that I find George Clooney very, very uninteresting. Him, as a person, and just about every character he ever portrayed. I can't help it, I don't care about this guy, or his acting, or his money, or his love life (especially not his love life), or his commercials, which I always thought about as "The adorable John Malkovich-make-an-educated-guess-coffee commercials" in the first place.

Does that make me a person of low taste? Well, whatever.

Posted by: Rooks at January 25, 2012 8:18 AM

George didn't grow up in a rich and famous household. His father was a radio personality and I would call them upper middle class at best. He bunked with Aunt Rosie when he came to Hollywood but he still paid his dues, and as he said in the above roundtable, he makes the commercials to support his quality film addiction. I wouldn't call him smug, Bruce Willis is smug. I think he's just very genial. He also has a social concience and supports many charities so I agree with George, Fuck anybody who has a problem with that.

Posted by: kirbyjay at January 25, 2012 10:28 AM

"For relaxing times, make it Suntory times."

That's all I could think about when watching these.

Posted by: gunnertec at January 25, 2012 10:28 AM

Could this man be any more spectacular?

Yes. he could occasionally date women who are not young enough to be his daughter.
ME, for instance.

Posted by: PaddyDog at January 25, 2012 10:30 AM

Russell Crowe is your go-to guy for a quote about Great Actressin'? The best work he's done is keeping a straight face while performing with 30 Odd Feet of Vanity Projects.

Posted by: Craig at January 25, 2012 10:33 AM

I find it really hard to hate on Clooney.
#1 He's the sexiest man alive forever, until he dies. And then he'll be the sexiest dead guy, forever.
#2 He's a moderate actor who has achieved superhuman success but uses that success to do things like support and produce smaller more interesting films than The Machine generally pumps out.
#3 He's a philanthropist and while I don't like my actors mixing in with politics he does it in a fairly low key way - only answering questions asked of him and not getting all up on the campaign trail.
#4 He doesn't take himself too seriously. I call bullshit on this whole "you can't be an artist and do commercials too." If you want to be an artist and not spend your life eating ramen you HAVE to do things like Revenge of the Killer Tomatoes and overseas coffee commercials. He said it himself, he likes how he lives and making his suave coffee commercials allows him to maintain his lifestyle without him needing to demand insane salaries to balloon movie budgets.
And that's all I have to say today. At all. Seriously, that was the most I've written about anything since college. Team Clooney 4Eva.

Posted by: JenVegas at January 25, 2012 10:40 AM

You're using Russell Crowe for an argument from authority, sunny? Come on now, that's a bit rich and, I suspect, a little sour-grapey. Furthermore, I would suggest that Crowe doesn't fully understand the concept of a movie star. He plays George Clooney, or variations thereof, in movies because being a variation of George Clooney is his job. He's really very good at it.

Seriously Pajiba. Praising a rich huckster for raking in mega bucks shilling for a huge corporation and saying big fuck you to people who point out his whoriness? Where are your priorities?

That was a bit melodramatic. He's a person making choices, and being able to say "fu*k you to everyone" is a nice, succint description of achieving the American Dream. It's no more realistic to cynically assume that every famous person is a soulless hack than it is to blindly laud them. I've never had a shot at rich and famous (read: absolute autonomy), but I can't fault those who do their best to strike a balance that works well for them. He can get a movie made. Why is it offensive that he uses his power to do so and chooses to work for scale to do what he wants? Isn't that the ideal situation for someone in his position? Is he supposed to be in a garrett scribbling away as the rain blows in through a broken window? I think his willingness to say "fu*k you" and do what he wants makes him more awesome. He's not being hypocritical about it.

I am not familiar enough with his charity work to comment on it, but he has used his fame to bring attention to the genocide in the Sudan.

If has affiliated himself with a morally reprehensible company, then that makes him fair game and really the only thing worthy of comment.

Posted by: Mrs. Julien at January 25, 2012 10:43 AM

Ever since George lent his voice to the South Park movie, I decided he was OK. It was even better when they did an episode that was kind of centered on his smugness, and apparently he thought it was hilarious.

Posted by: Laura at January 25, 2012 11:07 AM

Leave it to Mrs J to succintly express in a concluding sentence what I was trying to hangover-ly wind my way to over several brain damaged paragraphs. Thanks.

Posted by: zeke the pig at January 25, 2012 11:10 AM

zeke the pig, preach it, brother!

Look, I look Clooney. I'd like to see him in another legitimately good movie that shows his comedic side like O Brother, Where Art Thou (I like The Men Who Stare At Goats and Burn After Reading, but they are flawed). You could debate his reasoning. I'm not entirely certain where I stand on the issue. But he, George "Motherfuckin'" Clooney, is completely full of shit here. "I do ads because I need to make money and I use that leverage to get worthwhile movies made with me starring in them (at a greatly reduced rate) which helps sell tickets and ostensibly helps the people involved to continue to be able to make worthwhile movies". Fair enough, except he doesn't need the fucking money. And why only overseas? You're cool with selling out over there, but you wanna still seem "pure" (or whatever) over here?

Ah, well, he and Pitt and Damon seem to be charitable people. Maybe he uses some of that money for good things. Oh, fucking hell, now I'm back to grays instead of blacks and whites.

Posted by: pissant at January 25, 2012 11:20 AM

Leaving aside that Russell Crowe is just generally a total ass, doesn't he kind of make Clooney's point for him? Russell Crowe refuses to be in advertisements, 'cos he's an artist, but of course he still wants to get paid, so he insists on getting $20 million per picture (look it up). Good for him, but bad for any movie that doesn't have a $150 million budget.

Clooney will do smaller pictures for less than he could be making because he wants to do them. If shilling for a coffee company allows him to do that, I have no problem. And maybe when I was younger I held to the notion that artists should take a vow of poverty in order to stay "pure," but I've come to the conclusion that there are far worse offenses in life than teaming up with The Malkovich to sell coffee.

Posted by: thegardenhead at January 25, 2012 11:21 AM

pissant, it's a minefield my friend. I feel your pain. Let's side with that old, ugly-as-fuck lumpy Socrates and be comforted in knowing that the more we know, the more we know how little we know.

Either way, I say it again - one issue seems fairly black and fuckin' white, and that's what Kate and Mrs J have essentially said: 'If you're gonna try justify the concept of shilling for a company, at least make sure the company itself is justifiable.'

Posted by: zeke the pig at January 25, 2012 11:26 AM

If you're gonna berate George, then you have to berate Malkovich and Swinton too, right?

Posted by: , at January 25, 2012 11:44 AM

Russell Crowe berating someone for playing the same character in every film? I've seen Gladiator, Master and Commander, and Robin Hood, Russ. The only thing you changed were your costumes.

Posted by: Bert at January 25, 2012 11:44 AM

Haha, I own a Nespresso (shut up, coffee snobs!) and I never knew about these commercials.

Posted by: Seany D at January 25, 2012 1:08 PM

Oh heavens no. I could never berate Malkovich. He berates ME. And I like it.

Posted by: klingonfree at January 25, 2012 1:10 PM

Same thing with people who make bad movies. It's a job. Why do we get down on people for having a job? It's not like they're forcing us to watch the movie or drink the coffee. Doesn't mean we can't criticize the product, but I don't see why we have to judge the people involved.

Posted by: Lucas at January 25, 2012 1:36 PM

i'm french and i hate these commercials (even Gondry who did one Nespresso commercial with Clooney said it's not good) and i dislike Clooney as actor because he's always Clooney.
If he wants more money,he just can do more movies (not more commercials :i see you Dicaprio)

Posted by: caro at January 25, 2012 1:38 PM

Guys, everyone is "selling out" nowadays. I've heard Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman and a number of other celebrities all provide voice overs for various products' ads. It's part of the game now. It's good money for the performers and companies like it because hearing Jim Halpert tell America to switch to eSurance probably does raise their numbers. You can call it whoring out if you want to, and for most of these celebrities it probably is, but for those like Clooney who take advantage of this paradigm shift in order to make smaller, more meaningful movies happen by agreeing to a far reduced rate are okay in my book.

Posted by: AngelArm45 at January 25, 2012 1:42 PM

"Could this man be any more spectacular? He and Michelle Williams should get ALL the Oscars, and dole them out to whomever they see fit."

The above line is seriously creepy.

I like movies and I like them for different reasons. I sometimes like a movie because it is mindless fun. I needed to laugh and it made me laugh. So all this blather about "films that matter" said in veddy serious tones and with some solemn artistic voice accompanied by sage nods...I call BS. Why not finish the idea: You make films that matter TO YOU, Mr Actor Boy. I on the other hand, am completely disinterested in movies that matter to you, despite that fact that YOU think they carry a weighty message or some fabricated sense of import. I am all about me. Movies that matter TO ME. I'm the one buying the ticket, remember? So. Sometimes, a movie that matters TO ME is Temple Grandin or The Last of The Mohicans. And sometimes, as in the above scenario, it's Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle or Some Like It Hot, or Best in Show. For this reason, Jack Lemon, John Michael Higgins, John Cho and NPH are far more important TO ME.

So glad he gives to charity. I do too. Many people do. It does not make anyone a saint.

Posted by: klingonfree at January 25, 2012 1:59 PM

I'm sorry, for some reason it's creepy that Dustin loves two actors that you do not? I don't follow.

Posted by: becks at January 25, 2012 2:07 PM

"I'm sorry, for some reason it's creepy that Dustin loves two actors that you do not? I don't follow."

Let me clarify: The above line is seriously creepy TO ME.

Posted by: klingonfree at January 25, 2012 2:13 PM

I see. It seems so much more reasonable now.

Posted by: becks at January 25, 2012 2:21 PM

Once again, Mrs. Julien and I share a brain. Fear our takeover, Pajiban mortals.

Posted by: Craig at January 25, 2012 3:09 PM

Can I use it tonight? I haven't seen Justified yet.

Posted by: Mrs. Julien at January 25, 2012 3:16 PM

Not too sure about the "artist" thing. Actors, musicians, celebrities, rock stars, movie stars....they all sell a product. There are very few products out there that anyone would consider "art", so sell away George. Many people would prefer a Nespresso at one of the Clooney's movies instead of a $25 bucket a slimy popcorn.

and leave Russell alone, he may be a bad tempered, condescending asshole, but he is my bad tempered, condescending asshole.

That is a good question though, what movie, song, play etc....would you consider art.

for me

To Kill a Mockingbird.

Posted by: kirbyjay at January 25, 2012 4:20 PM

That's fine. I won't need the brain tonight, I'm watching reality tv.

Posted by: Craig at January 25, 2012 6:38 PM

I love the contrast between George Clooney, who admits to working commercials to earn money so he can make good films at scale and this ...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/ed-o-neill-rob-lowe-200897

Posted by: Johnnyboy at January 26, 2012 1:22 AM

For those of you angst-ridden over the "Clooney sells out" thing, I commend this blog post to you:

http://www.socialjusticeleague.net/2011/09/how-to-be-a-fan-of-problematic-things/

Posted by: rocky at January 26, 2012 1:27 AM

Way to ruin my vibe, dude. I was actually making a better point about why he does those commercials. Did you even watch?

Posted by: Johnnyboy at January 26, 2012 1:41 AM

Jesus. JOHNNYBOY HAS THE FLOOR, PEOPLE! EVERYONE PAY ATTENTION TO HIM! LOOK AT HIM! GO TO HIS LINKS! DROP WHAT YOU ARE DOING, GIVE ALL YOUR ATTENTION TO HIM!

Sorry. We forgot it was your turn to hold the Speaking Stick.

Posted by: Craig at January 26, 2012 9:10 AM

Sorry, I think he's gracious and lovely. He was interviewed in Vanity Fair along with Matt Damon (and Daniel Craig, who didn't take it at all seriously and, thus, isn't a basis for comparison). They asked the same questions of all of them and Clooney was just so assertive and real about it. The question was "Who do you despise?" Matt Damon, who I also really like, said "Nobody", which can't really be true. Clooney named some horrific human rights offender in Sudan. I respect that he gave the question some thought and answered it honestly. I don't know, he just has an effortless elegance that I like. Way-too-young chickadees notwithstanding.

Posted by: samantha t at January 26, 2012 10:07 AM

What really pisses me off is the whole sell-out label people put on celebrities for doing the whole commercial thing. Anyone who says they wouldn't do the same is fucking bullshitting.

"We're offering you an all-expense-paid trip to Japan and a few million dollars to film a few short commercials."
"Sorry, my artistic integrity is more than that."

BULLSHIT.

Not only that, commercials have actors too, and they need to pay the bills. Are you gonna give THEM shit over it? Are you gonna insult their field of work by saying it's not "real" acting and that their field of work is beneath "real" actors? That is a condescending attitude if I've ever seen one.

Well, for fun, here's a small list of famous people who started in commercials, see if you spot anyone there who you like:
-John Travolta
-Farrah Fawcett
-Dakota Fanning
-Leonardo DiCaprio
-Tobey McGuire
-Wesley Snipes
-Jodie Foster
-Keanu Reeves
-Tom Selleck
-Adam Savage(from Mythbusters!)
-Lindsay Lohan(hehehe, I just had to include this one for a laugh)

Posted by: Danny from Puerto Rico at January 26, 2012 11:54 AM

THANK you! Now ... as I was saying ...

oh ... you were being funny.

Nevermind.

Posted by: Johnnyboy at January 26, 2012 10:23 PM

This is the man upon hearing of Charlton Heston's diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease, responded by saying, "it couldn't have happened to a better man." Charlton Heston had more acting ability in his pinkie toe than Clooney could ever hope to have. He's arrogant and has delusions of grandeur where his acting abilities are concerned. He's become famous and gets choice roles because of his good looks, but...Clooney, you're no Charlton Heston.

Posted by: Ria at January 29, 2012 3:25 AM