This Is Where You've Seen The Dr. Pepper Cream And Soda Actors Before
While other beverage brands sometimes take a sleek, sexy, or star-studded approach to appealing to consumers, Dr. Pepper has leaned into a more off-beat take on advertising. The soda company's Lil' Sweet commercials are part homage to Prince, part hilarious send-up of over-the-top TV jingles, and almost always hilarious.
Over the past few years, the Lil' Sweet character has showed up in several Dr. Pepper ads, singing and "woo!"-ing his way through a variety of silly situations. In the most recent commercial, we see Lil' Sweet singing a "delicious duet" about Dr. Pepper & Cream Soda with the Doctor, who has a handlebar mustache, luscious blonde locks, and a unique take on Night Ranger's "Sister Christian."
The spoof itself is as funny as anything else Dr. Pepper and Lil' Sweet have served up, and the ad has caught people's attention for good reason: It's leaving viewers scratching their heads, wondering where the heck they've seen the actors before. The men behind both Lil' Sweet and the Doctor will likely be familiar for a few reasons. Let's take a look at where you've seen them before.
Will Green, the Doctor from the Dr. Pepper & Cream Soda ad, has been a fixture on our TVs for a while
The Doctor may be making his Dr. Pepper debut in the Delicious Duet ad, but the actor who plays him, Will Green, is far from a newbie. He's spent the last decade gracing our screens in two dozen commercials, including spots for AT&T, Hulu, and Call of Duty.
Green has also appeared in several TV series over the last few years. Arguably his most prominent role to date is Jeremy, the activist boyfriend of Sue (Eden Rebecca Sher) on ABC's The Middle. He appeared in seven episodes of the series between 2016 and 2017. Additionally, Green made guest appearances on Criminal Minds, NCIS, and The Mentalist, among other series.
It remains to be seen whether Green will reprise his role as the Doctor in any future Dr. Pepper ads, but it's safe to say we wouldn't mind hearing an encore from him and his equally recognizable duet partner.
Lil' Sweet actor Justin Guarini made reality TV history nearly two decades ago
In 2003, American Idol crowned Kelly Clarkson its very first winner. Standing by her side was runner-up Justin Guarini — a.k.a. Dr. Pepper's Lil' Sweet. While he didn't go on to his own chart-topping career, the singer and actor has built an impressive career for himself nonetheless.
Okay, yeah, there was From Justin to Kelly, a movie that pretty much everyone involved would prefer to forget. But the film's poor performance wasn't enough to deter Guarini from forging his own post-American Idol path. He's harnessed his musical talents for more than just reality TV and Dr. Pepper, appearing on Broadway in musicals like Green Day's American Idiot. He also played Paris in a Broadway run of Romeo and Juliet, which was filmed and released in theaters in 2014.
While it's hard to say for sure what's next for Guarini and his viral alter ego Lil' Sweet, given his popularity, we can guess he'll be making more music for Dr. Pepper in the future.