Top 10 Celebrity Bank Spokespeople

Socrates once said, “Fame is the perfume of heroic deads.” Well, in modern marketing, fame’s “perfume” sells products. Last August, three academics from Carnegie Mellon University published a paper that calculated the worth of celebrity spokespeople. They determined that Tiger Woods’s celebrity sponsorship from 2000 to 2010 led to $103 million of sales at Nike, as well as an approximate 2.5% price premium. That is, until Tiger went off the marital rails.

Financial institutions, too, have historically turned to celebrities to pitch financial products, although not as prominently as, say, sporting goods manufacturers. Yet, the celebrity pitchman is a mainstay in banking. Here we offer up today’s Top 10 banking spokespeople, including the single most legendary banking spokesperson in the history of modern bank advertising (or at least in our opinion). Enjoy.

• Jimmy Fallon for Capital One

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  SNL veteran and late night host Jimmy Fallon faces off against a cash-hating baby in this ad series.

• Alicia Keys for Citibank

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  Jack, a Citibank customer dumped for being boring, consoles himself by hanging out with Alicia Keys in this Citi Private Pass spot.

• Sam Waterston for TD Ameritrade

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  Sam Waterston of Law & Order lends his gravitas to TD Ameritrade

• Aziz Ansari for American Express

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  This American Express spot stars comedian Aziz Ansari, who stalks his internet date on social media, then uses rewards points to learn her favorite activities.

• Kiefer Sutherland for Bank of America

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  Kiefer Sutherland of TV's 24 is the voice of Bank of America in numerous TV spots. Trivia: Born in London, Sutherland is a dual citizen of the UK and Canada.

• Bar Refaeli for My Check

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  Bikini model Bar Refaeli paye her bill with the My Check app in this two-minute spot. Refaeli is also an investor in the company.

• Alec Baldwin for Capital One

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  Alec Baldwin plays himself (sometimes multiple versions of himself) in his Capital One ads that focus on rewards.

• Giada DeLaurentis for Citibank

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  Celebrity chef Giada DeLaurentis helps Citibank customer Jack stop being such a dull boy.

• Regis and Kelly for TD

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  Regis and Kelly continued as pitchpeople for TD after their talk-show partnership had ended. The spots stopped airing at the close of 2012. (Were Regis and Kelly part of the package when TD acquired Commerce Bank?)

• John Houseman for Smith Barney

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  Hollywood icon John Houseman for Smith Barney -- an honorable mention

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Tags: Alec Baldwin, Alicia Keys, American Express, Aziz Ansari, Capital One, Citibank, Giada DeLaurentis, Jimmy Fallon, Kelly Ripa, Kiefer Sutherland, Regis Philbin, Sam Waterston, TD

Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:19 am under Cards, Commerce, Exclusive, Marketing, Retail, Slider. Follow this entry via RSS 2.0.