Has Anyone Ever Been In A "Real Person Commercial?" (1 Viewer)

[Luis Esp]

On Monday, I was downtown here in Toronto and I was approached by a recruiter to appear in a "real person" commercial for a Buckley's cough medication.

Normally I would have said no, but threw caution to the wind thinking it couldn't be that hard to do, all I had to do was read a consumer's letter to the company and hold the product in my hands.

I am not and have never had any desire to be an actor.

As I was being miked, the director quickly ran through of what to do, where to stand and most of all, be enthusiastic.

As soon as he said "action", the worst acting on the face of the earth took place!

Let me tell ya... it was BAD.

How bad was it do you ask?

1. It was so bad that I could hear myself screaming in my head "Dear God! Shut the hell up now and just run!!!"

2. It was so bad that even though my segment was only 5 seconds it seemed like an eternity.

3. It was so bad that I was hoping the pigeons flying around would just plop on me just to take the camera off of me.

4. It was so bad that the words were flying out of my mouth before my mind could process the letter and I must have sound like I had marbles in my mouth.

5.Not only was it bad, but my infliction was so wooden that not even the Blue Fairy could turn me into a "Real Boy".

6. It was so bad that both Madonna and Freddie Prinze Jr. could get Oscars best Acting.

After it was all said and done, the only that I remember were the faces of the director and the camera man. Priceless

I just muttered " I am not an actor, was given a free t-shirt and quickly left the mark for the next victim.


My only saving grace is that hopefully it was so bad that they won't use the footage at all.

 

[Devin U]

I never have, but a friend of mine at work has. He and his 2 kids were in Wal-Mart's commercial for SW ep. 2 last year. He was picked at random in a Walmart store. they got paid 5k each and given tons of SW toys and movie stuff.

 

[Bill_D]

Coca-cola commercial when I was in the 3rd grade over 25 years ago.

 

[David Von Pein]

Wonder what Luis thought of it??

 

[Dave Poehlman]

"Dear God! Shut the hell up now and just run!!!"

Now that would be something to see on a TV commercial!

"Buckley's cough drops got rid of my sore throat and..." >BOLT!< (insert cheesy running footstep sound effects here)

 

[Mark Shannon]

Well I've never been in a commerical, although my friend has. It wasn't a real person commerical though. It was a Bell Sympatico commercial that aired about 6 months ago.

I was, however, intereviewed in front of my school by CityTV in grade 6 (5 years ago, I believe).

 

[Malcolm R]

Actually, given Buckley's past commercials, the worse the acting was, the more likely they might be to use it.

 

[Luis Esp]

Actually, given Buckley's past commercials, the worse the acting was, the more likely they might be to use it.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oo!

 

[TonyD]

i was.
about 15 years ago i played hooky from work and went to rent a video at EROLS a video store in philly.
i saw they had a camera crew set up so i asked what was going on. "filming a commercial".
so i hung around for a little while until they asked me if i want to be in it. "YES"

all that happened was i stood in front of the camera for about 10 minutes while a woman asked me a bunch questions about the store.
my one line in the commercial was.
"what i like best is the fact that you don't have to pay a deposit to rent a video."

my name was printed under the video at the bottom
"Tony D.
KENSINGTON"
i didnt get paid, probably was supposed to.

but people who i didnt know came up to me on the street.
relatives i hadnt spoken to in years got in touch with me to say they saw me on tv.

 

[Bill Cowmeadow]

Yes,
My family and I were first in line to the local Drive-In theater. A camera crew walked up to the side of our new convertible and asked if we wanted to do a commercial. We gave them a few sound bites about how great and safe the drive-in was etc. All our friends saw the commercial throughout that summer, but we never saw it. I guess we looked good, they ran it again this summer.

Bill

 

[Bill Williams]

About six years ago, for the local Fox station I cut a promo for Deep Space Nine. I just basically said, "Watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on Jackson's WDBD-40." It came off pretty cool. And no costumes or prep time, either.

 

[Randy_Sh]

Friend of mine was in an info-mercial for Motor Up motor oil additive when I was in college. Basically stuff to improve your cars performance and increase engine life.

If I remember they came to where she worked (county pool) gave out a bunch of the stuff and then came back later and asked if it improved your car performance.

Think she said something like it decreased hestitation or something. Pretty damn funny to see your friend on TV, especially since we didn't expect it.

 

[brentl]

"Not only was it bad, but my infliction was so wooden that not even the Blue Fairy could turn me into a "Real Boy"."

Great line

B

 

[Luis Esp]

I just wish my witty repartee had not failed me that day.
At the end of the letter, the customer who wrote it asked "Why can't you make it better?"

All I could muster was "Yeah, that would be great."

Idiot!!

What I should have said was "Yeah, make the cough syrup taste like doughnuts.....mmmmmmm....doughnuts!" And add the drool for dramatic effect.

Thank you Homer!

 

[Mark Murphy]

I can't ever say that I have but I know someone who has. A person I used to work with was in a Christmas Tree Shop "Don't you just Love a Bargain" TV commercial. Supposedly, this person was out on disability but was able to lift heavy objects into their carriage in the ad. Hello?

 

[Mark Shannon]

Supposedly, this person was out on disability but was able to lift heavy objects into their carriage in the ad.

Probably explains why you used to work with them.