Real Name: John Travolta
Salary Deal : $70,000
Here’s another name you’re certainly familiar with. Long before he rose to international fame with movies like “Grease” or “Saturday Night Fever”, Travolta appeared in a Safeguard Bath Soap commercial. The commercial aired in the 1970s and featured Travolta and his teammates singing in the shower after a sweaty basketball game.
It’s the first time the world got to see Travolta’s musical talent, and just a few years later, he would appear in Grease, and his career would speed up. However, he earned plenty of money from his soap ad, at a salary of $70,000. They were lucky – a few years later and they might have had to add a zero to the end.
Kevin Butler, the PS3 Exec
Real Name: Jerry Lambert
Salary Deal : $10,000
As a way to tout the many features of their new gaming console, Sony created the character of Kevin Butler, played by Jerry Lambert. In the humorous commercials, Kevin Butler was the VP of various, varying departments within Sony, but was mainly in charge of answering fan mail.
The character came from the minds of ad agency Deutsch/LA, which not only ran Jerry Lambert's social media but also wrote the speech he gave at E3 2010. Lambert had a salary deal of $10,000, while the only thing Butler had was an MBA: Master of Being Awesome.
Colonel Sanders
Real Name: Harlan Sanders
Salary Deal : $40,000
White-clad southern businessman Harlan Sanders had a dream about chicken, blazing from on high, and while he began with a small stand, the company is now worth more than $15 billion. His famous image – suit, mustache, goatee, and black bow tie – is immortal as the company's logo. He sold his stake in the company for only $2 million, but appeared in commercials for the company until his death, earning a yearly take of $40,000.
Actor fact: While Sanders wasn't part of the army, he was made an honorary colonel because he, yes, made the best chicken: “In recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine.”
Dunkin Donuts' Fred the Baker
Real Name: Michael Vale
Salary Deal: $1 million
How well-liked and loved was Fred the Baker when he retired from his commercials in 1997? Dunkin Donuts gave away six million free donuts to celebrate his send-off, and the TV Bureau of Advertising named his original commercial one of the best of the decade in the eighties. His slogan was “Time to make the donuts,” since the commercial featured him getting up at the crack of dawn to make the delicious treats DD is known for.
Actor Michael Vale portrayed this down-to-earth and hard-working everyday man for a cool million dollars, and his character was so popular Boston gave him his own parade.
The 7 Up Guy
Real Name: Orlando Jones
Salary Deal: $500,000
Jones earned a pretty penny for his role as lemon-lime soft drink spokesperson – $500,000, from 1999 to 2002. He's an entertainment biz veteran, co-producing The Sinbad Show back in 1993, and appearing in shows and movies such as In Harm's Way, Sour Grapes, Office Space, Woo, and Liberty Heights. He got his first big break in 1987 as a screenwriter for A Different World, an NBC comedy.
7 Up chose him for his comedic personality and writing skills. He's recently been in Starz's American Gods, The Book of Love movie, and episodes of Room 104 and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.