Cringe-worthy celebrity automotive collaborations

The news that David Beckham is promoting a new luxury Vietnamese motor company, by the name Vinfast, reminds us of all the cringe-worthy ads that have been produced when celebrities and car companies team up. So with this in mind, we’ve collected six faves.

This beauty premiered this year at the SEMA 2018 show in the USA and at first look doesn’t seem like the weirdest or most cringe-worthy ad until you zoom in closer to the subtleties. And they just keep on coming. Like that delayed smile after “Toyota truck.” Or Kevin Costner showing off his cows – it’s like his expression and gesture says, ‘look guys, I've got cows!’ Or when he drags that random log across a creek. One of the highest of highlights is when Kevin’s awkwardly putting on his sunglasses after sassily saying, "more importantly, it worked for my wife. So if you don’t think that’s important you’re not getting that either.” WTF? We get it but that sentence makes no sense, Kevin. The list goes on, like how he parks the Tundra IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER to fish from its tailgate. Enjoy!

In this classic, astronaut Buzz Aldrin boldly goes where no man has gone before: comparing the bland and basic early 90s Holden Apollo to the wonder and technology of space travel.

Behind every iconic utterance in history lies some genius. “I have a dream.” “Imma let you finish.” “Marge, Marge! The rains are ‘ere!” And then there’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s entry into the famous-quotes canon: “Hot places, cold places, exhilarating places, and other places…” Cristiano Ronaldo is a genius footballer who won the World Player of the Year in the year of this ad’s release but the script for this oft-memed and regularly roasted Castrol Edge commercial is so weird, it surely didn’t win anything, did it?

If you come up with a name for a car model that rhymes with a famous actor’s name, what do you do? You hire said actor to promote it. It’s a no brainer, literally, it requires no brain to come up with this advertising concept. Robert is a true great – so don’t get us wrong – but even the Hollywood star’s charisma struggles to cut through here, and when they reference the in-joke about the name in the ad, it’s just too much.

Matthew McConaughey never listens when people say to him, “Don’t go full McConaughey.” This classic McConaughey monologue is interesting, as it recalls his work in that killer first season of True Detective. But this ad asks more questions than it answers. Doesn’t the Lincoln MKC’s horn work? How about that steering wheel? Does the Lincoln even run? Matthew, why don’t you just motor around that damn bull. Sure, Matthew’s kind of into the idea of taking the long way to his destination, and he loves slowly thinking about the similarities between the powerful beast and his SUV, but no one can overlook that this new model Lincoln just got turned around by one, single piece of livestock.

Jean-Claude Van Damme brags, “What you see is a body crafted to perfection,” and he isn’t talking about the truck. What we’re actually seeing is a fit old Hollywood star who was more popular (and way fitter) in the 80s. What’s he doing? He’s doing the splits to an Enya soundtrack. Click play and enjoy. We won’t spoil it for you. It’s hard to hate it because, in a goofy way, it demonstrates Volvo’s technology well. Cringe, though.

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