The 25 Weirdest and Worst Celebrity Product Endorsements

It's unclear how celebrity endorsements, especially the most unusual ones, come to be. From condom packaging, to new potato chip flavors, to struggle sneaker brands, these are the 25 weirdest and worst celebrity endorsements.

This is a photo of Rap Snacks.
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rap-snacks

This is a photo of Rap Snacks.

The life of the rich and famous looks easy and carefree from the outside, but we never know just how our favorite rappers, singers, and actors are faring financially year over year. Someone who might be on top one season is suddenly grabbing every endorsement deal possible the next month, just to make ends meet. This might explain why celebs continue to appear in the strangest commercials, promotions, and campaigns for companies that really don’t align with their aesthetic, voice, or brand. But hey, we have to respect the hustle sometimes.

Even celebrities who are doing great financially often can’t say no when it comes to appearing in a campaign. When the fee is high enough, even A-listers will hawk a lame soda or acne cream when it comes down to it. We have the marketing teams (and the enormous budgets) of brands like Proactiv, Pringles, Brisk, and more to thank for some of the most random celebrity endorsements ever created.

Combing through YouTube, it’s possible to spot some of the biggest celebrities of our time in commercials that are poorly produced and even more poorly written, just because they agreed to appear early in their careers. Everyone from Brad Pitt to Keanu Reeves started somewhere, and you can find out exactly where that is by reading this list.

While these endorsements are surely bizarre and nonsensical, they also are often entertaining and sometimes even work in their utter hilarity. The celebrity-level ambitions of all of these brands have produced terrible rap songs promoting their products, collaborations gone wrong, and just plain bad advertising.

But even the worst of these pairings are entertaining when you look back on them. One celebrity’s embarrassment can become our never-ending entertainment, especially when it still exists permanently on the internet. So here’s to brands like Charmin, who made Kim Kardashian be the face of their public restroom, and Hot Pockets, who adapted Snoop Dogg’s most famous song into a terrible music video. Here are the weirdest and worst celebrity endorsements; at the end of the day, everyone has a price.

Eminem/Brisk

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Brands with enough dough to win a Superbowl ad spot typically don’t hold back when it comes to shelling out even more money to get a celebrity endorsement. Brisk, a tea and juice brand managed by Pepsi, landed Eminem for their 2011 Superbowl commercial, and we assume the deal wasn’t cheap. Add the rapper’s contract on top of the fact that the ad relied on a team of animators to do the claymation, and this must have been one hell of a budget.

We have to admit that the outcome was a success, despite the strange pairing of Eminem and canned tea. The tongue-in-cheek ad features an animated Eminem explaining why he doesn’t typically do commercials, namely because Brisk won’t change their name to a string of bad language fit for one of Em’s raps.

Rappers/Rap Snacks

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From Fabolous to Migos to Lil Yatchy, it doesn’t seem like there’s a rapper alive who hasn’t been asked to be the face of Rap Snacks, a brand of chips, cheese puffs, and popcorn that feature flavors like Sour Cream With a Dab of Ranch (Migos) or Louisiana Heat (Lil Boosie). Co-founded by Master P in 1994, the brand stayed mainly local until a relaunch in 2016 that brought the snacks to the Midwest. With new flavors and collabs released last year and a lineup of even more rappers on the packaging, Rap Snacks have garnered somewhat of a cult following.

Waka Flocka/PETA

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It’s good to see famous people putting their celebrity to work for good causes, but we were surprised to discover Waka Flocka Flame’s endorsement of PETA. Most rappers own at least one ridiculously expensive fur coat, but Waka Flocka defied this trend when he joined PETA’s “Ink, Not Mink” campaign in 2011. For the campaign, the rapper posed nude, covering the family jewels with his sparkling chains. He also did an interview with PETA to express his love for animals. Honestly, this endorsement is just pure.

Lil' Romeo/ICDC College

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Lil' Romeo hasn’t exactly been at the top of the public’s mind in recent years, but in 2013 things must have really been looking bad for the rapper. He ended up on a commercial for ICDC College, a SoCal online college that gives Associate Degrees. The commercial is reminiscent of any two-year college ad you’ve ever seen. In it, Lil' Romeo tells prospective students, “Education sticks with you; it keeps you on top.” Needless to say, he shouldn’t trade his rap career for motivational speaking anytime soon.

Snoop Dogg/Hot Pockets

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Snoop Dogg really sold out for Hot Pockets back in 2012, when he appeared in a commercial for the microwave snack brand, singing “Pocket like it’s hot.” The Weird Al-level commercial, filmed like a really terrible music video in black, white, and red, features sexy women in short-shorts, a giant Hot Pocket dressed like a pimp, and a rap verse by Andy Milonakis. All we can say watching this is, why, Snoop, why?

Birdman/Lugz

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Lugz started strong in the hip-hop world, and when the sneaker brand landed Birdman for a commercial, they produced a short and simple ad with cars, chains, Birdman, and the shoes. However, the sneakers were considered too similar to other popular kicks on the market, and they were discontinued in 2008.

Kesha/Lifestyle Condoms

This is a photo of Kesha at Rock in Rio in 2011.

Lady Gaga/Polaroid

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Throughout her career, Lady Gaga has strived to blur the lines between celebrity, music, art, fashion, and product. This ambition may have landed her the role of Creative Director of Specialty Products at Polaroid. Her work with the brand resulted in the Grey Line GL20 Sunglass Camera in 2011.

The camera, which was never released for retail, featured sunglasses that could take pictures and were stored in a USB in the earpiece. The product was a flop, and looking back, Gaga should’ve just waited for SnapChat’s Spectacles. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20, especially when it comes to glasses.

Cristiano Ronaldo/Facial Fitness Pao

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It is impossible to fathom what led Cristiano Ronaldo to team up with a Japanese brand for the Facial Fitness Pao, a device that basically looks like a mouthguard with propellers meant to strengthen your facial muscles. While the Pao isn’t the weirdest beauty product to come out of Japan by far, the fact that Ronaldo’s grin became the poster-smile for the device makes zero sense. Let’s hope he fired whatever agent booked this gig for him.

Kim Kardashian/Charmin

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From being bossed around by Paris Hilton to making a name for herself and her entire family, Kim Kardashian really started from the bottom before climbing her way up to A-list status. But one of her lowest moments may have been when she became the face of Charmin’s restroom holiday pop-up. In 2012, Kim K was given the honor of unlocking the toilet paper company’s temporary bathrooms in Times Square. We’d be making fun of her, except we know where she is now, and it’s clear that she’ll always have the last laugh.

Diddy/Proactiv

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It wasn’t that weird to see teen favorites like Avril Lavigne, Lindsay Lohan, and Jessica Simpson chat candidly about their bad skin for Proactiv commercials. But one celebrity made a very strange appearance for the skincare brand in 2015—Diddy. Besides being featured in a long commercial for the brand, Diddy was also filmed drunkenly promoting the product on set. We don’t blame him for having to get hammered to get through that one.

Nelly/Honey Nut Cheerios

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Snacks, soda, and cereal—this seems to be the trifecta of strange celebrity food endorsements. When Nelly teamed up with General Mills for a Honey Nut Cheerios commercial, the result was no exception. In the short ad, Nelly gives the cereal’s insect mascot a makeover, complete with a new autotuned voice. Sure, the bee is little less annoying, but the ad doesn’t make us want to run out and buy cereal anytime soon.

Lil Wayne/Strapped Condoms

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Method Man/Sour Patch Kids

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Method Man must be a true fan of Sour Patch Kids, because when he teamed up with the candy company for a commercial, he went as far to write a rap song honoring the colorful sour candies called “World Gone Sour.” The result is a music video where a spilled bag of Sour Patch Kids causes mischief all over Method Man’s home. The sheer ridiculousness of the video actually kind of works, and we appreciate that the rapper doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Jackie Chan/Woolworths

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Jackie Chan made a name for himself doing his own stunts in action-packed movies like Rush Hour, but apparently such fame wasn’t enough to pay the bills. He appeared in a supremely weird ad for the former British department store, Woolworths. If that pairing wasn’t random enough, the ad features the actor alongside a cast of puppets searching for clothes to wear to a party. Woolworths has since closed, but Chan’s bizarre performance for the brand will unfortunately live on YouTube forever.

Brad Pitt/Pringles

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It’s hard to imagine Brad Pitt working with anything other than luxury brands, but the iconic actor once paired up with the minds behind “Once you pop, the fun don’t stop.” For his Pringles ad, a very young and very shirtless Pitt runs out of chips and out of gas, stranded in Miami until a car of hot girls comes by with more Pringles (but no gas, apparently). The ad may have been seen as sexy at the time, but looking back it’s as cheesy as Pringles’ Cheesy Cheese flavor.

Ashton Kutcher/PopChips

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Ashton Kutcher really made a wrong step with this PopChips ad back in 2012. For the commercial, the very white actor put on a terrible Indian accent and brownface to pose as a Bollywood producer looking for “the most delicious thing on the planet.” The ad may have been forgotten, except for the fact that Aziz Ansari reminded us of how offensive it really was when he included it in a montage of racist portrayals of Indian people in his show “Modern Love.” PopChips then went on to promote their tortilla chips using white people playing Mexicans in sombreros. It’s all enough to put you off of the chips for life.

Ozzy Ozbourne/Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter

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We literally can’t imagine what food brand would want Ozzy Osbourne to be their spokesperson, but in 2006, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter decided to go punk rock and employ the Prince of Darkness for a commercial. This is the guy who mumbles everything he says and who once ate a live bat onstage—pairing him with a low-fat butter substitute just really makes no sense.

Matt LeBlanc/Heinz Ketchup

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Three years after F.R.I.E.N.D.S. aired on television, Matt LeBlanc decided to bring his signature Joey swag to commercials. But starting with Heinz really didn’t seem like a natural pairing. In a super ‘90s, super cheesy ad for the ketchup brand, LeBlanc perches a bottle of Heinz ketchup on his rooftop and runs down to buy a hotdog from a nearby stand. The dripping ketchup from the roof lands perfectly on his newly purchased hotdog, which he holds behind his back. Why? Because this is what cool looked like in the ‘90s.

Hugh Jackman/Lipton

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Who knew that the man behind Wolverine was such a fan of iced tea, flash mobs, and Japan? In a 2010 commercial with Lipton, Hugh Jackman appears drinking and dancing in Tokyo for a very random ad. Although the concept for this feel-good video is utterly bizarre, it’s playful and entertaining enough to work.

Keanu Reeves/Cornflakes

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The masterminds behind Kellogg’s ad team in 1987 must’ve been on something when they dreamt up this commercial. The ad shows Keanu Reeves setting boxes of cornflakes on an enormous table, and then sitting down to eat a bowl of the sugary cereal. The commercial sparks a lot of questions: Why is the table so long? Why is the only food on the table cornflakes? What the hell is Keanu Reeves doing in this ad? We may never know the answers.

John Cena/Fruity Pebbles

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In another weird celebrity cereal endorsement, John Cena was tapped to promote Fruity Pebbles. Perhaps the market research team thought the cereal wasn’t appealing to tough guys? Anyway, Cena appeared in a 2013 commercial for the colorful breakfast food, where he smiles and makes weird hand motions. Did more people run out to buy Fruity Pebbles after the commercial aired? Probably not. Are we grateful for this strange relic anyway? You bet.

Peyton Manning/Papa John’s

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Now that he’s retired, we don’t blame Peyton Manning for appearing in a commercial every now and then. While he was shooting a promo for Papa John’s in 2012, however, things got a little weird; Peyton opened the ad by calling the pizza delivery employee “Papa.” The promo was for two million free pizzas, and despite the awkward commercial, we wouldn’t mind Papa John’s bringing that deal back.

Miranda Kerr/Lipton

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Lipton must have a major ad budget because in 2012, they landed supermodel Miranda Kerr for an ad spot. In the commercial, Kerr sings and speaks in Japanese, so we have no idea what she’s saying. She’s also wearing a very un-sexy “sexy” waitress outfit. Despite the confusion and unfortunate attire, she still looks great. Maybe that’s what Lipton was banking on.

Memphis Bleek/Garnier Fructis

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Garnier Fructis, a brand known for skinny models running around with sleek hair while a British woman delivers an excited voice-over, tapped Memphis Bleek for a 2010 endorsement. In it, Bleek rapped a verse for a girl band known as Code Green in the song “Fructis Flow.” When asked why he would choose to do something so out of left field, the rapper reportedly said,  “They called me like, yo, we got X amount with this many zeros…” We can’t knock the hustle.

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