In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the Jerry Seinfeld ad for Newcastle's Greater Building Society :
How did a small financial institution in Newie manage to get Jerry Seinfeld to star in their ad?
They simply called and asked his manager and Seinfeld liked the concept. The reaction in some of the international media to Seinfeld doing this ad, which obviously didn't earn him a pile of money, is mostly one of 'downright mystified', which is probably exactly why Seinfeld did the ad in the first place.
Sometimes you just have to ask and the seemingly impossible can come true.
I really like that they got Seinfeld to set up his own gear, before the street performance. It must have reminded him of his early days in stand-up comedy, another reason why he probably decided to do it.
Mumbrella has a great slab of other very creative, downright clever, recent Australian ads for bursts of 60 second enjoyment.
UPDATE : Jerry Seinfeld explains to the Newcastle Herald why he did the ad :
...the star whose agent reputedly knocks back 50 commercial overtures a week, hinted it was more about "feel" than fiscal reward.The ad wasn't filmed in Newcastle. It was shot in Cedarhurst, New York. Had me fooled."We don't think about money too much these days," he said. "I like to do things because they feel right."
Yesterday, he suggested Australia's affection for the show might have predisposed him to the cheeky approach from a financial institution he never knew existed.
"I was down there in '98 right after the show went off the air and the response from the people I met on the street, in the restaurants, everywhere was so special I felt kinda close to them."
I wonder how many people in Newcastle didn't notice it wasn't local?
