Messi goes mobile as Kaka fronts cough drop campaign
Western sports stars are a common sight in Chinese adverts for sports clothing and footwear. However, some recognizable faces branch out further afield.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are fierce rivals on the pitch, as well as fronting ad campaigns for rival smartphones in China.
For a fee of as much as 6.6 million US dollars, Messi has appeared in ads for Huawei, while Cristiano Ronaldo represents Nubia for 4.4 million US dollars per year, according to China Daily.
You don’t have to be a young and handsome face to get a role in advertising either ? in the early 2000s, Bora Milutinovic coached the Chinese national football team to qualify for their first ever World Cup appearance.
The fame that brought him was enough to convince a range of companies, including Jin Liufu, an alcohol brand that placed the Serbian manager in its TV ads despite the fact that he was practically teetotal.
Named FIFA World Player of the Year and recipient of the Ballon d’Or in 2007, Kaka is still a fairly common sight in China as the face of Golden Throat lozenges, a brand of medicinal throat sweets.
David Beckham’s unwitting role as Viagra ambassador
Kaka, however, is not the first Brazilian football star to appear in ads for Golden Throat. Striker Ronaldo threatened the Chinese company with legal action in 2007 for using his image in an advert without permission.
More infamously, however, was David Beckham’s surprise appearance in an ad campaign for USA Selikon, a Chinese product used to treat impotence.
Old footage of the star was dubbed over in Chinese with memorable lines like “it's also the secret weapon with which I can satisfy Victoria,” referring to his wife, Victoria Beckham.
According to The Telegraph, Beckham was unhappy at the use of his image in the advert, which also featured Keanu Reeves and Sean Connery without their permission.
Chinese ad industry lures Mr Bean out of retirement
After appearing at the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games, comedian Rowan Atkinson told British media he was retiring the Mr Bean character.
The lure of Chinese advertising was however too enticing.
Two years later, Bean ? whose rubber-like face is recognized across the world after his show was broadcast in more than 200 countries and regions ? suddenly appeared in ancient China, tumbling through a roof and trying his hand at kung fu as part of a global campaign for Snickers.
（by Nicholas Moore)
