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Celebrity Endorsement Advertising

Remembering Burt Reynolds through his ads

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By Kyle O'Brien, Creative Works Editor

September 6, 2018 | 4 min read

Burt Reynolds had incredible staying power as an actor and celebrity. The stud from Deliverance and the Longest Yard morphed into a wisecracking renegade in favorites like the fast-driving Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run. Just when it seemed his luck ran out, he went to TV with Evening Shade and back to movies in Striptease and Boogie Nights.

Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds passed away at 82 on September 6, 2018

The mustachioed actor also found fame as a model in Cosmopolitan in 1972, stretched out on a bearskin rug, quite bare himself, as the ‘Cosmopolitan Man.’ He passed away today (Sept. 6) at age 82.

Burt Reynolds Cosmo

Reynolds, however, was also a good pitch man, especially when reviving his Bandit character, which he did selling everything from motor oil to used cars, all with that chomping, likeable smirk and aw shucks-meets-cocky attitude.

See some of his more notable, and less seen, forays into the sales side below. The quality on some isn't great, but you'll get the idea.

Quaker State

Reynolds had a decently long-running gig with the oil company in the early 1990s, though they parted ways in 1994. His genuine-yet-tough nature, and the fact that he was known for driving a car in a lot of movies, made him a good fit.

Pontiac

Reynolds drove a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am to fame as the Bandit, so it was fitting that the brand looked to him to introduce an updated limited edition version of the muscle car in 2016. He's seen autographing the car, and he talks about how the movie was a love story with the car. It's worth it to see an aged Reynolds reminiscing about his most famous role and the car that drove him there.

Patsy Lou Automotive Group

Unless you lived in the Detroit area, you most likely never saw Reynolds' version of the Bandit for this Flint, Michigan auto dealer. He screeches around a corner, but is then seen with Patsy Lou, who tells him to drive carefully.

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Florida Pure Orange Juice

In this ad, Reynolds talks to a young child (who pulls up in a miniature Bandit Trans Am) about how he is going to be the next spokesperson for Florida Orange Juice and he's going to be great. The mulleted kid states he thinks that he would be better and shows up Reynolds, who is forced to sit and drink the juice.

Dollond & Aitchison

Plenty of Americans do ads abroad, but this one seems weirdly out of place, though Reynolds was known for his wire framed glasses. Still, it is humorous, as Reynolds asks his staff why they didn't tell him his new glasses make him look silly. He then goes to the optician, who tells him the best frames for his face, to which he awkwardly kisses her hand.

And another creepy-funny one with George Hamilton.

M&M's

Reynolds reprised his Bandit role, playing a candy version of himself for the brand, next to the car that made him famous.

Burt Reynolds M&M's
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