Who Are The Stars In The Tide Ad?
Tide is one of the best and most prolific businesses out there when it comes to making notable commercials. The Procter & Gamble brand has become a Super Bowl staple, and often features one or more celebrities in its ads. For example, this year's Super Bowl ad featured Seinfeld star Jason Alexander, playing the changing face on a well-worn sweatshirt.
Now the company has a new five-part ad campaign with an entirely different premise. The campaign dials up the celebrity factor, with two famous faces starring in it and a different celebrity joining them in several iterations of the commercial.
The leads are actor, rapper, songwriter, and producer Ice-T; and former wrestler turned actor, producer, and media personality "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. As extremely cool guys that also have cold-themed names, the two are perfectly suited to the task they're given: cold-calling people to convince them to use cold water for their laundry because it's better for the environment. The #TurntoCold campaign is both an eco-friendly public service announcement and an ad for Tide because part of the message is that Tide has the strength to clean clothes well even in cold water.
In case Ice-T and Stone Cold Steve Austin joining forces as part of the "Cold Callers" Tide outreach team wasn't amusing enough to get viewers' attention, the people they call in the different commercial segments are quite a bunch. You could almost call the group the Breakfast Club of commercial casts because the stars run the gamut of celebrity types.
Here's who stars in the new Tide ad.
There's a bad boy on the list — Vanilla Ice
Sticking to the theme of cold-named celebrities, one person Ice-T and Stone Cold call is rapper and television personality Vanilla Ice, who, of course, is eating ice cream when he gets the call.
Vanilla Ice rose to fame in 1989 as one of the first successful white rappers with his hit song "Ice Ice Baby." However, Ice's career quickly took a turn. His second album was critically panned (e.g., by Entertainment Weekly), as was a film he starred in, Cool as Ice, produced by his record label SBK. Then Ice was involved in a few scandals, including SBK publishing a fake biography without Ice's knowledge. After that, he began overconsuming weed and eventually hard drugs, including ecstasy and cocaine. In 1994, he tried to take his own life by overdose but survived. Around all that, throughout the '90s and 2000s, Ice continued making music and touring abroad, and dabbled in jet ski and motocross competitions, but Ice's U.S. fame faded.
He became — and still somewhat is — a pop culture punchline, but he never fully left the industry. He appeared in several films and reality shows throughout the 2000s, and then landed his own home renovation show The Vanilla Ice Project on the DIY Network. That show and other miscellaneous television, film, and music work has given him a bit of a comeback into the limelight, and of course, his breakout song "Ice Ice Baby" remains iconic, often mentioned in pop culture and a staple of bars and personal parties.
In the Tide commercial, references to his star-making hit song abound, in glorious fashion, with the crux being when Stone Cold says to Vanilla Ice, "stop, collaborate," and Ice T finishes, "and listen." Ice does listen, and agrees to turn to cold water, as Tide's campaign urges.
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
There's a jock — hockey player Mark Messier
Also on the call list is former National Hockey League star Mark Messier.
Messier, a Canada native, was drafted into the NHL by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1979 NHL Draft. He was the team's third-round pick, and 48th overall in the draft, according to The Hockey Writers. As his NHL.com record shows, he spent 12 seasons with the Oilers, helping lead the team to five Stanley Cup Championship victories in that time, playing as a center and left wing. In 1991 he was traded to the New York Rangers. Shortly after, he helped the Rangers bring home the 1994 Stanley Cup.
In 1997, Messier was signed to the Vancouver Canucks as a free agent. He eventually returned to the Rangers, and played with them until he retired in 2005. In his career, Messier was voted to the NHL All-Star game in 15 seasons, won a host of other awards, and had a leadership award created by the NHL in his name, as reported by the NHL.com in a 2017 piece on the 100 Greatest NHL Players. Messier was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility.
In the Tide commercial, when Ice-T and Stone Cold call him, Messier answers at his desk, his No. 11 Oilers jersey on the wall behind him. Messier quickly tells the guys he's been washing with cold water for years — fitting his reputation as a leader. Taking the words out of Ice-T and Stone Colds' mouths, he notes washing with cold saves him $100 a year on his energy bill, Tide washes great in cold, and it's good for the environment. Then Ice-T offers him a job at their call center but Messier firmly rejects the offer.
There's the princess (ish) — actress Annie Murphy
Another call the Cold Callers make is to actress Annie Murphy, who has recently become America's newest sweetheart thanks to her role in the critically acclaimed Canadian comedy Schitt's Creek.
Murphy Alexis Rose the spoiled (yet somehow endearing) socialite daughter of Johnny and Moira Rose. The previously underrated comedy caught word-of-mouth fire in its fifth and final sixth seasons, becoming an awards show darling, winning nine total Emmys in 2020 and two Golden Globes in 2021. Murphy herself was a source of some of those awards and even more nominations, winning the 2020 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and earning a Golden Globe nomination and Screen Actors Guild award nomination this year, among other honors.
Murphy has been in the business since 2007, over the course of which she's appeared in several films and television shows, though the shows are also primarily Canada-based and the roles were small. She's finally getting her recognition now though, with Schitt's Creek's success, a role in the new season of the Netflix comedy Russian Doll, and a starring role in the upcoming AMC comedy Kevin Can F**K Himself.
With Murphy's rising status and comedic excellence, it's no surprise Tide recruited her for their campaign. When she gets the call from Ice-T and Stone Cold, she's herself but giving off quite an Alexis Rose vibe, as she's cleaning up what looks to be a post-shopping spree mess. She thinks they're telemarketers so tries to hang up on them quickly, but then lets them give their spiel. She implies she's not much of an environmentalist but when Stone Cold mentions money saving, she says she'll switch to cold water to save money ... for the environment. Murphy really does make bratty selfishness look sweet.
And then there's Mr. T
The other call Ice-T and Stone Cold make is to former wrestler (and bodyguard and club bouncer) turned actor and television personality Mr. T.
Chicago native Mr. T (Lawrence Tureaud) first got into the Hollywood business as a bodyguard for celebrities, according to Biography.com. Even before entering that world, he had created the persona of Mr. T, as a gold chain-wearing club bouncer. He eventually landed on TV through participating in NBC's "America's Toughest Bouncer" competition in 1980. After winning, he was recruited by Sylvester Stallone for the role of Clubber Lang in Rocky 3. From there he got his own show, Mister T (1983-85); got into the wrestling world, including headlining the first WrestleMania in 1985; and further jumped into acting with a role in NBC's The A-Team. A line he had in Rocky 3 became his catch phrase — "I pity the fool" — and it remains his iconic calling card.
The multihyphenate star answers Ice-T and Stone Cold's Tide call from a locker room, in his signature gruff-curt way. Easily swayed by Stone Cold, Mr. T gets excited about washing his Hanes t-shirts in cold water, and says he'll follow Stone Cold's advice, as will the "fool" (a random guy) in the room with him.
Tide truly swept the pop culture corners for this commercial in compiling this cast of celebrities to present its message. It seems to be a hit, as it's rated well on DailyCommercials.com. All that remains to be seen is just how many customers will be convinced to #TurntoCold by Ice-T, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Annie Murphy, Mr. T, Mark Messier, and Vanilla Ice. They collaborated, now America has to listen.