After seeing Jack Bauer, or Kiefer Sutherland to non-24 fans, in an international Calorie-Mate commercial, it got me thinking about market research--and fat paychecks.
I know that many American movies, television shows and celebrities are popular overseas. And apparently, Germany has the market cornered when it comes to loving failed American celebs (see: D. Hasselhoff, M. Jackson). I was more curious, though, because Jack (I'm referring to Sutherland as Jack Bauer from now on because Bauer is much more exciting) speaks english in the commercial--and he is the only one who does. Is the mere presence of such a person in a foreign advertisement enough to sell the product? And, since the paycheck to come do a commercial overseas would seemingly be much more than that of a domestic commercial, is it worth it to pay Jack that much money to do his thing when most of the audience can't understand him?
Obviously a wildly popular show both at home and abroad, it is easy to see 24's international market potential. However, I am curious to see the market research statistics of how people respond to an ad when much of that ad is in a foreign language. Obviously, he's not describing the product, but it still adds that element. If a foreign celebrity such as Dirk Nowitski was on television speaking strictly German, it would no doubt throw some people off.
What this commercial makes me wonder most is, are some foreign countries so saturated with American pop culture and entertainment that it can be used successfully in advertising, even when it is not in a language people can understand?
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