George Clooney's European commercial -- a classic

[CTyankee]

For all of you rooting for him at the Oscars...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax1Z6lRgTDg

I saw this on CNN while I was traveling in Italy in spring, 2008. Clooney at his self deprecating, and most sophisticated, best...

[WhiteTara]

1. cute n/t

[HeresyLives]

2. Nicely done!

[gateley]

3. Very good -- thanks! nt

[Warpy]

4. Clooney has the same gift that Cary Grant had

It's the ability to play completely against type and laugh at himself in the process.

Plus, he's left-o.

[Cetacea]

6. +10

[CTyankee]

7. Amazing gift, isn't it? I like the way he defers to the demanding woman with the car

and is so tenderly deflated with the young woman who doesn't want his autograph, she wants a cup of expresso...god, he's cute...

[CTyankee]

8. Amazing gift, isn't it? I like the way he defers to the demanding woman with the car

and is so tenderly deflated with the young woman who doesn't want his autograph, she wants a cup of expresso...god, he's cute...

[Zomby Woof]

5. Pulling for Jeff Bridges myself

I like Clooney, but Bridges is overdue.

[CTyankee]

9. Oh, I'm sure you're right. We could see this coming a mile away with Bridges.

Nothing against Bridges...I love him and he was terrific in The Men Who Stare at Goats. I'm sure Clooney is cheering him on, as well. Clooney's won an Oscar already,hasn't he?

I haven't seen Crazy Heart but I did see Up in the Air and Clooney was magnificent, in a quiet way...

[Zomby Woof]

10. Clooney and Bridges have also done Coen Bros. films

A sign of a quality career. :D

"Crazy Heart" may just be what does it. An amazing 40 year career!

[CTyankee]

13. I wonder why he hasn't had more roles, more respect, etc.

He was great in Men who stare at goats. What happened with this guy? I could tell from the interplay in that movie with him and the others, including Clooney (who obviously likes the guy a lot) that he was doing an inside game with them...it was a fun movie to watch...great people in it, too. You should see it!

[shireen]

11. looks like good coffee!

wish they sold it here. :donut:

Who's Clooney? :P

[CTyankee]

12. I think you can get the machine here but it is very expensive.

Clooney is just some guy who shows up and can't impress women...I love it...it is so cool, especially with that adorable Camilla...

I get the feeling that Clooney feels like you do. Who is he?

[Heidi]

14. We sent a small Nespresso machine to a friend in the US

who had just completed some months of radiation therapy for colon cancer. As part of his therapy, he wasn't allowed to consume coffee, so we celebrated the end of his (successful!) treatment by sending him a Nespresso machine. Not a huge expense when appreciation of life is the event. Less than $200. We own a similar model and to compensate for the expense, I have two coffees per day (rather than glugging cheap, unflavorful coffee all morning) and each is a supremely enjoyable "event."

We received a huge, honkin', way-too-expensive Nespresso machine as a wedding gift 10 years ago. It took up a corner of my kitchen counters, so it's now in my mother-in-law's kitchen. We're way happier with our much smaller, less expensive, "glam red" Nespresso machine. And the spent capsules are recyclable here! :hi:

ETA photo of our model (same model, D90, different color, available on eBay for as little as $135.).
And, no, I don't work for Nespresso, but the customer service is extraordinary and the warranty is excellent.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. On the other hand, it is Nestle, who are subject to a worldwide boycott

They are a money-grabbing multinational who are widely hated for pushing powdered milk on to nursing mothers in developing countries, despite the cost and health problems.

http://www.babymilkaction.org/pages/boycott.html

http://www.nct.org.uk/info-centre/information/view-127

I'm surprised to find DUers swooning over Nestle so much. I guess a pretty face makes a lot of difference. Personally, I think Clooney sold out by working for Nestle.

[CTyankee]

16. I don't know what his compensation is. He has an awful lot of money anyway.

He might have done it because he liked the machine or he liked the idea...I think I read somewhere that he really enjoyed the people he got to work with on the ad.

Clooney is a good progressive. It's hard for me to imagine that he would "sell out." He has plenty of money and gives it away generously ($1 million for Haiti, PLUS he was the organizer of all that talent in the fundraiser...if not for him, there might have been a less successful fundraiser).

I admit to like watching that man. If this is his major flaw well, I'm not perfect myself and neither is anybody else...

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. He said he did it for the money

Clooney arrived at the Venice film festival to present his latest film, the thriller Michael Clayton, in which he plays a "fixer'' for a big New York law firm.

Asked at a news conference about his ads for Nespresso, a coffee brand owned by multinational Nestle, Clooney said he did not work for Nestle - he just did the Nespresso ads.

"I'm not going to apologise to you for trying to make a living every once in a while. I find that an irritating question,'' Clooney said, unsmilingly.

Nestle, a multinational food company based in Switzerland, has been criticised in the past for its marketing of baby milk formula in developing countries.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/clooney-no-ad-man/story-e6frewyr-1111114320185?from=public_rss

In some ways I can see that. But it's disappointing to see the ad, and the product, praised on DU.

[CTyankee]

18. Well, that does disappoint me, too, as a progressive myself.

I would have preferred a "purer" product. I don't like Nestle and don't buy their products. I wouldn't buy that machine. Maybe he justifies it because he gives away so much money. Still, not an excuse.

Thank you for informing me. I appreciate your posts.

[shireen]

19. yikes! didn't know that.

bad bad George.
:(

[Cairycat]

20. Clooney is charming and he has every right to make money, but

it really sucks that he did this for Nestle, an evil company.

Here is a link to Baby Milk Action,, a UK group working for the rights of babies and mothers and against the aggressive marketing of Nestle and other companies. www.babymilkaction.org . About 7/8s of the way down there is a link to an article that appeared in the Observer about this commercial.

Here's the gist of the article:

(Emma)Thompson has written in support of Baby Milk Action, the group that campaigns against the way Nestlé sells and markets various infant foods in the developing world.

It has joined forces with the International Labour Rights Forum in its approach to the Hollywood star and forwarded a letter from workers at the Nestlé Cabuyao factory in the Philippines, who are on strike over the terms of their employment.

Patti Rundall of Baby Milk Action explains that the groups have 'great respect' for Clooney's work to 'fight global poverty' and that they want to meet him to discuss how he could use his position 'to support the communities around the world that are working to hold Nestlé accountable'.

So far, the response has been a note from Clooney's personal assistant, promising to pass it on to the actor and enclosing a series of papers supplied by Nestlé.

Link: www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2008/aug/03/4

I'll still enjoy Clooney's movies, but this has lost him some of my respect.

edited to add that it is Emma Thompson being spoken of

[CTyankee]

21. I hope some of his former admirers' loss of respect for him has given him pause.

There are times when your fame gets ahead of your ideals and you need to reset your priorities. Surely the man can get millions for his movies that don't involve this sort of corporate endorsement. He can do this. He just needs to try. Do it, George...