8 Biggest Celebrity Coffee Commercials – Cringe or Cool? You Decide!

Coffee and celebrities – an unlikely duo that results in either:

• pure marketing magic or 🙂
• self-aware cringe-fest 🙁

These celebrity coffee commercials can be simply persuasive or interestingly weird, with the intent to get your eyes on their brand. But if there’s something most consumers of coffee can agree on, is that they’re actually entertaining to watch to varying degrees.

Here’s our list of eight coffee commercials made iconic by the celebrities that star in them.

1. Tommy Lee Jones is an alien in Japan’s Boss Coffee ads

In 2006, the star of “Men In Black” movies starred in a series of strangely amusing commercials in Japan for Boss Coffee.

Here, Tommy Lee Jones plays a straight-faced alien who disguises himself as a human and makes observation reports about humans.

It’s very entertaining to watch the actor do alien things such as doing back-breaking bends or playing ping-pong effortlessly without changing his facial expression.

2. George Clooney is the face of Nespresso

For nearly two decades, George Clooney has been the charming face of Nespresso, starring in a series of commercials that range from classy and conventional to witty or weird.

In the commercial “The Bet”, the A-list actor made a wager with Julia Garner and Simone Ashley. It ends with the two actresses driving off in Clooney’s car, leaving him with just a scooter.

Clooney also had an ad with Danny DeVito, where the comedian gets trained by Clooney in the art of fine taste. Needless to say, the two Hollywood icons made the humor of the ad work effortlessly.

3. Hugh Jackman is a different man without his Laughing Man Coffee

Hugh Jackman cofounded Laughing Man Coffee in 2011 and is the face of the brand in its ads.

Ryan Reynolds, his co-star in the movies Deadpool and Wolverine, also joins in on the fun by making voiceovers and cameos in the ads.

One such ad titled “Nice Morning” features Jackman in a sour mood, while Reynolds talks about the actor’s “great” personality traits before, and after coffee.

This funny irony ends with the grumpy Jackman becoming the actor we know once he’s had his cup of Laughing Man Coffee.

4. Al Pacino stars in Vittoria Coffee ad (and Dunkin’ Dunkaccino Rap)

In 2010, legendary actor Al Pacino starred in a series of ads by Oscar-winner Barry Levinson for Australian brand Vittoria Coffee.

These spots showcase Pacino’s signature intensity to show his appreciation for coffee. Pacino delivers impassioned monologues about the quality and flavor of Vittoria’s coffee beans with the same gravitas he brings to his iconic film roles.

 It feels weird seeing Pacino’s signature intensity being applied to coffee, but I guess you can be that passionate, and the ad campaign seemed to be a success.

Since we’re talking about Al Pacino, we can’t skip his comedic coffee commercial within a movie. In Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” film in 2011, there’s a short ad where Pacino raps to endorse Dunkin’s Dunkaccino drink.

What’s funnier is Pacino’s reaction to the commercial, telling Sandler’s character to “burn this”, adding threats like the mafia man we see on the big screen. This wasn’t a real commercial, but I had to include it here.

5. Brad Pitt carries his coffee beans for De’Longhi’s Perfetto Ads

De’Longhi‘s ad campaign for the Perfetto machine also grabbed attention, thanks to Brad Pitt’s charm.

It’s a pretty straightforward ad without any audible dialogue. Pitt goes on a journey to source his bag of coffee beans and comes home to a Perfetto, where he simply pours the beans in and enjoys a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

The placement of Brad’s bag of coffee beans may be too out there, literally (as James Hoffmann comments in his YouTube video), but I do get the intent.

They’re doubling down on the freshness provided by their automatic machines’ bean-to-cup capabilities, a weak point for their competitors’ pre-ground coffee pods. This doesn’t stop some coffee lovers from scoffing at the ad though.

6. Ben Affleck’s Dunkin’ Ambassador journey

The paparazzi shots of Ben Affleck where he’s always sipping on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee come full circle when he got a deal to be the official ambassador for the brand.

The Batman star’s most recent ads with the global donut and coffee chain were truly something, as he follows Al Pacino’s footsteps as an action star turned into a singer of sorts to endorse the brand.

Some of the ads simply featured Affleck surprising Dunkin’ customers, while the other commercials featured his journey to become an official ambassador. It’s a chaotic one, full of cameos with Matt Damon, Ice Spice, Charli D’Amelio, Tom Brady, Jack Harlow, Fat Joe, and Affleck’s wife Jennifer Lopez.

It all leads to Affleck founding the “DunKings” in a self-aware silly performance that Damon isn’t fully on board for.

7. David Hasselhoff is iconic as always for Cumberland Farms Iced Coffee

David Hasselhoff embraces his campy persona outside his famous TV shows as he made cameos in movies across different generations, such as The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, Dodgeball, Piranha 3DD, and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

It’s this Hasselhoff that we see in the commercials for Cumberland Farms Iced Coffee Iced Coffee iced coffee. In one of his best ads for the brand, he dramatically croons an original ode called “Thirsty For Love” while frolicking on the beach and chugging iced coffee. It’s equal parts cringeworthy and captivating, and a fun watch overall.

Fun fact, the coffee’s promotional signs featuring Hasselhoff were being stolen at the peak of its campaign. It seems like no one sells coffee quite like The Hoff.

8. Kevin Costner doesn’t like “collabs” in Green Mountain Coffee commercial

For me, Kevin Costner’s TV spot for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters hits the sweet spot for humor and promotion.

As the actor shoots a film, he gets pitched several products they can “collab” with. From a sneaker with spurs to a cowboy kimono, they can’t seem to find a product that suits the taste of the iconic star of Western movies (we don’t blame him) until he gets a sip of his coffee.

More Coffee Ads

With the huge amount of people sipping coffee around the world, it’s no surprise that coffee brands would want to hire the biggest celebrities to be the face of their products, whether it’s for their new offerings or selling existing experiences.

As a coffee enthusiast, all I can say is keep them coming. It’s fun to watch coffee brands compete through their catchy campaigns.