When 'Star Trek' stars play product pitchman
Think it's just Shatner out there in ad space, plumping for Priceline? Actually, there's a long commercial track record for "Star Trek" stars, from Nimoy to Quinto.
- 30 years experience at tech and consumer publications, print and online. Five years in the US Army as a translator (German and Polish).
If Starfleet Academy has a Marketing 101 class, these commercials must surely be on the syllabus.
Twice in recent days, Earth's ad agencies have dispatched officers of the "Star Trek" franchise on missions not to seek out new worlds, but to sell new products.
First came a video clip from PC maker Acer using clips from the imminent "Star Trek Into Darkness," docking soon in a movie theater near you, to pump up the excitement for its new flagship Aspire R7.
Then Audi flew into view with a two-minute Spock vs. Spock spiel for its S7 sedan.
Which got us to wondering: Just how often have the best and brightest from "Star Trek" done duty as product pitchmen?
Yes, yes, obviously there's William Shatner's long-running gig for Priceline.
But we've been poking around, and have turned up some historical gems and oddities that you just won't want to miss. Remember the phone company MCI and its Friends and Family plan? Remember when our only "communicator" was a landline phone?
There's lots more out there in the commercial space of yesteryear, from Aleve to Oldsmobile.
And long before Priceline came along, Shatner was shilling for the Commodore VIC-20, "the wonder computer of the 1980s."