12 Weirdest Celebrity Food Endorsements Of All Time

Celebrities endorsing products is nothing new. The first modern example of celebrity product endorsement is thought to date back to the 1890s, when actress Lillie Langtry's image appeared on packages of Pears Soap. Fast forward to today, and just about every Super Bowl commercial has multiple celebrities hawking every possible product under the sun for a quick buck. Sometimes the stars in said Super Bowl commercials are barely recognizable – even if that does arguably defeat the whole purpose of a celebrity endorsement.

But as weird as those commercials are, there's another category of celebrity food endorsements that takes things to the next level. From iconic political figures to hardcore rappers to world-famous actors, just about anybody you could possibly think of — and some you can't — has featured in commercials promoting the most absolutely random array of candies, snacks, and cereals. Pick a celebrity from column A, film them singing about a bizarre product from column B, and you still might not match some of the wilder celebrity commercials that have come out over the years. So, grab a hot pocket and some candy corn, pull on your best Wu-Tang Clan hoodie, and brush up on your Russian, because things are about to get odd — and these celebs are hungry for it.

Described by The Guardian as "the most important world figure of the last quarter of the 20th century," Mikhail Gorbachev became the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985. His tenure would ultimately lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War. Beyond those monumentous milestones, Gorbachev also gained recognition in later years due to Pizza Hut's arrival in Russia.

Sorry to bury the lede there, but it's true. In 1998, Gorbachev appeared in a Pizza Hut television commercial in which the politically divided populace of the newly democratic country came together to agree that the one thing for which they could all appreciate Gorbachev was the chain's arrival in Russia. Given that Pizza Hut once ran a controversially macabre ad about a death row prisoner ordering their pizza for his last meal, it's maybe not the most unusual commercial the company ever made, but it's certainly right near the top.

After Gorbachev's death in 2022 at the age of 91, the Pizza Hut ad unexpectedly went viral, prompting many people to ask why he had made it in the first place. According to reports, Gorbachev reportedly received over $1 million for the appearance, which he funneled into The Gorbachev Foundation, a non-profit think tank dedicated to the study of political and socio-economic issues in Russia and beyond.

James Brown, also known as Soul Brother Number One and the Godfather of Soul, was one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, landing more than 50 albums on the Billboard R&B charts. It helped that he put out up to four albums per year, which also explains his other nickname, the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business. That hard work extended to other areas of media and entertainment as well — including a 1992 Japanese TV commercial for instant noodles.

The mind-melting ad for Nissin Cup Noodles features Brown demonstrating how to make the noodles by pouring hot water from a kettle into the instant cup. It also features Brown deploying his signature dance moves while energetically singing a modified version of his 1971 hit single "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (Part 1)," only with Japanese lyrics about noodles.

The internet being the internet, this ad – and an alternate 15-second version – eventually resurfaced online, becoming a bit of a viral trend for a hot minute. Which, conveniently, is about how long it takes to make the noodles. Get on up!

The late Ozzy Osbourne, better known to some as the Prince of Darkness, is one of the most iconic figures in the history of rock and roll, selling over 100 million albums worldwide. In fact, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: once as part of the seminal heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and a second time for his illustrious solo career. He was also a pioneer in reality television, fronting four hit seasons of his show "The Osbournes" beginning in 2002.

Osbourne also has another claim to fame: In 2006, he appeared in a TV commercial promoting I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Osbourne appeared in the ad alongside impressionist Jon Culshaw, with the uncanny similarity of the pair presented as a visual metaphor for the similarities between the brand's margarine and real butter.

Despite the success of the ad, which AdWeek cites as proof of the power of Ozzy's enduring personal brand, Osbourne didn't end up doing many other food commercials. Which is a shame: it feels like a real missed opportunity that he didn't, say, rewrite his hit "Crazy Train" into "Gravy Train." What would have been more metal than that?

Candy corn has a strange history and is one of the most divisive Halloween candies. For every person who likes candy corn, there seems to be two people who hate it. But there's at least one "Independent Woman" who thinks candy corn is totally "Bootylicious," and that's former Destiny's Child diva Michelle Williams.

Williams revealed this to the world in a way that surprised everyone, especially long-time fans waiting for her next hit single. In October 2022, she released her first new song in over five years — and it was a TikTok ode to Brach's Candy Corn, in which she implored viewers to join her in a heartfelt song about how much she loves candy corn.

The tune dropped just three months after her former bandmate Beyoncé released the Grammy-winning album "Renaissance," so it was maybe a bit of a "Sliding Doors" moment for everyone involved. But Williams told People that she just couldn't keep her feelings about candy corn to herself any longer. "Queen of candy corn. That's my title," Williams said of the song, which was called "Candy Corn Love." "Brach's came [to me] with this amazing idea for me to write a song about my love for candy corn. ... Maybe I'm going to just start writing songs for candy corn, because I love it so much. It's easy to write for something you love."

Mark Hamill and Patrick Stewart are two of the biggest names in the history of science fiction. Hamill, of course, has played the legendary Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" universe since 1977, while Stewart's illustrious career includes both the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the "Star Trek" franchise as well as Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, in "X-Men." The idea of the two coming together is a geeky dream come true.

Of course, those fans probably didn't envision them coming together to battle over an air hockey table in an empty warehouse while eating takeout. But that's what happened when the unlikely dream duo teamed up to promote Uber Eats in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The series of commercials also featured them riffing on the difference between Hamill's American accent and Stewart's British accent, and playing Connect Four.

In other words, not exactly the Luke vs. Picard battle fans dreamed of. When the two sat down together to try to explain to Men's Journal what the Uber Eats ad was about, though, they admitted that both hope there's more collaboration potential beyond a Connect Four battle. "I will admit that, at least for us on Star Trek, we have [fantasized] about a combined universe between Star Wars and Trek [movies]," Stewart said. "There have been a lot of ideas thrown about on putting together two iconic universes, and having all of these great characters coming into contact. I would personally get such a kick out of that." Watch this space.

These days, everyone seems to love Snoop Dogg. Between his unlikely friendship with Martha Stewart and philanthropic endeavors, such as founding the Snoop Youth Football League, Snoop is like the uncle you never had, just more stoned. That's why younger generations might find it hard to believe that once upon a time, Snoop Dogg had a slightly less endearing reputation; he was even arrested and later acquitted on murder charges in the 1990s.

So, how did Snoop so thoroughly change his public image? One pivotal moment came in 2012 when he released a reworked version of his 2004 hit single "Drop It Like It's Hot" featuring new lyrics that praised Hot Pockets. And "Pocket Like It's Hot" was, amazingly, just the start. A year later, Snoop Dogg was joined by Kate Upton and several other unlikely guest stars for "You Got What I Eat," a rousing parody of Biz Markie's 1989 hit single "Just a Friend." How much longer are we going to have to wait for Snoop to release "Burger Was the Case?"

If you ever wanted to watch Joey Fatone get crushed by a falling crate of meat, allow us to draw your attention to a collaboration between NSYNC and Chili's, aka one of the most '90s things you'll ever see. This unlikely commercial actually came out in 2002, but watching NSYNC sing "I Want My Baby Back (Ribs)" while apparently stranded on a desert island feels like the '90s were hanging on with its fingernails until this ad finally put it out of its misery.

The concept is simple: Wouldn't it be funny to have NSYNC sing a seemingly on-brand single about wanting their baby back, only to turn out that they are actually singing about Chili's ribs? How exactly the desert island part came into play is a bit of a mystery, but the ad was successful enough that a second commercial was released. And in retrospect, the second is a doozy: in a riff on VH1's "Behind the Music" documentary series, the other NSYNC members detail how Justin Timberlake's obsession with baby back ribs negatively impacted the band.

The ad came out shortly before Timberlake left the band to start a solo career, and two decades before his highly publicized DWI, making it feel eerily prescient — and today, oddly nostalgic. Safe to say that watching these clips will make all NSYNC fans just want their baby back.

Rewind to 1992. George H.W. Bush is the president of the United States, the Summer Olympics are held in Barcelona, Spain, and Ice-T is the most dangerous musician in the world. At least, that's what critics were saying after his heavy metal band Body Count released the controversial song "Cop Killer." Even President Bush publicly denounced Ice-T, with UPI quoting him as saying, "I also stand against those who use films or records or television or video games to glorify killing law enforcement officers. It is sick."

Fast forward 30 years to 2022, when Ice-T is now best known for playing a cop on the "Law & Order" franchise for over two decades, and has just become the new spokesman for Honey Nut Cheerios. Ice-T's Cheerios commercials even have the gangsta rap pioneer doing a speedwalking dance routine in support of low cholesterol and heart health. Time truly is a flat circle — and sometimes, that's a circle of toasted oats with honey.

David Duchovny is a Golden Globe-winning actor best known for his turns on "Californication" and as the iconic Agent Fox Mulder on "The X-Files." He's had a long and successful Hollywood career, but have you ever wondered what his life might have been like if he had grown up in Russia?

That's a rhetorical question, because of course you haven't. But someone has, and that someone is apparently Duchovny himself, which he revealed in an odd Russian TV commercial for Siberian Crown beer in 2014. Riffing off the idea that the name Duchovny is Russian, the star imagines how different things would have been if he had been raised Russian. Among the alternate timelines he ponders in the Duchovny Cinematic Multiverse are worlds where he became a cosmonaut or a ballet instructor.

There were just a few problems. Firstly, the ad came out just one day after the Russian military opened fire on Ukrainian forces. Making the partnership even more awkward is the fact that only a couple of months before the ad was released — but after it was filmed — Duchovny revealed on social media that his family wasn't actually Russian at all, but Ukrainian. At least there's a silver lining: Somewhere in the Duchovny Cinematic Multiverse, there's probably a version of Duchovny that never filmed this commercial at all.

Rappers have been known to get into high-profile beef from time to time — and we're not talking about ground beef here. But perhaps the weirdest rap beef of all time was when Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan composed a diss track warning about the dangers of not eating your Sour Patch Kids fast enough.

The song, which was called "World Gone Sour," debuted just before Halloween in 2011. And unlike your typical product endorsement, this one wasn't toned down at all, with explicit lyrics that required judicious bleeping in the official music video. In the song, Method Man details all the troublesome shenanigans that Sour Patch Kids will get up to if you don't just eat them to stop the madness.

Amazingly, Method Man's rap might not even be the strangest part of the ad campaign, as there was also a companion "World Gone Sour" video game from Capcom, where players use Sour Patch Kids to fight against bosses such as an old sneaker covered in angry, sentient gum. Wow.

Ricardo Montalbán was an absolute icon of television and film. Perhaps best known as the star of the hit TV show "Fantasy Island" and for his turn as Khan Noonien Singh in both the original "Star Trek" television series and the hit 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," Montalbán received a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1993.

Six years later, he appeared in a Taco Bell commercial alongside a talking chihuahua. It's a move that makes perfect sense for the Mexican-inspired chain, given Montalbán's fame at the time. It's a little less clear, however, why Montalbán took the job. Presumably, he got much more out of it than just some complimentary chalupas, as he was still doing Taco Bell ads – including the company's popular Asada of the Serengeti Super Bowl ad — as late as 2007, just two years before his death at age 88.

One of the most famous TV commercials of all time is Coca-Cola's 1971 "Hilltop" ad, which features an inclusive group of youngsters coming together to teach the world to sing together in peace and harmony, saving the world by buying it a Coke. The ad tapped into the youth peace protest movements and became the time's equivalent of a viral hit.

In 2017, Pepsi tried to get lightning to strike twice by using social activism to fuel soda sales. In the commercial, model and reality star Kendall Jenner sees a group of protesters moving down the street and joins them, ultimately bringing America together by giving a can of Pepsi to one of the police officers facing down the protest.

Viewers had some questions about the ad, the main one being some variation of "who thought this was a good idea?" Critics claimed that the commercial made light of the Black Lives Matter movement. Pepsi ultimately decided to pull the ad due to public outcry, showing that at least some things have changed in the last half-century.