Ed Begley, Jr. isn’t the first actor hired to help sell automobiles and he likely won’t be the last.
But whether, it’s an actor’s voice-over in television commercials or Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong pitching the Nissan (one of his team’s sponsors) and its Leaf, no celebrity pitchman has been as opinionated as Begley, Jr. in his new collaboration with Ford.
The actor is a noted environmentalist and his “green” lifestyle has been showcased often on television and in the print media.
In the Ford video, which debuted in conjunction with the carmaker’s new electric offerings at the Detroit Auto Show, Begley, Jr. poked fun at several other manufacturers’ electric and hybrid offerings.
The video is strong and like watching Rickey Gervais host the recent Golden Globe Awards, it’s all or none. Ford competitors will either laugh and think the video is not funny and all good in the “heat of the battle.” Or, they might not just take it that way. Stay tuned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KtdOu6xIQY
Article Last Updated: January 21, 2011.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
