Helen Mirren was paid an extravagant amount of money to appear in a British advertisement for Nintendo’s Wii Fit.
The marketers for Nintendo knew exactly who they wanted to sell its exercise accessory, the Wii Fit Plus, to seniors in the British Isles. The spokesperson would have to be someone attractive and fit, but in their golden years. Helen Mirren seemed the perfect choice. Mirren won an Oscar for her role in The Queen in 2006 and recently appeared in RED alongside Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman. A source close to Ms. Mirren said that Nintendo wanted her and only her. How much was Nintendo willing to fork over for Ms. Mirren to shill its product? She was reportedly paid £500,000 for just two days of shooting. That’s US $807,100 for those of you counting at home. Not a bad payday for a 65 year old.
Unfortunately, this is the only video on the web of the Nintendo commercial starring Mirren, which ironically has more advertisements overlaid on it by some enterprising individual.
“Nintendo insisted they wanted Helen and no one else,” said a friend of Mirren. “They wanted an older, more attractive woman to show that the Wii isn’t just for children.” Apparently, Nintendo believed that she was the only choice to try to convince elder British ladies that the Wii Fit can help them look as good as she does. And it’s not just the British either, I find myself entranced by Ms. Mirren.
She seems so serene and calm, doesn’t she? She looks so good working out with the yoga game; I could totally do that. Maybe I should buy a Wii Fit Plus. I wonder if there are any in stock at Target …
Damn you, Mirren, you’re good. Almost had me there. Whew.
Source: MSN
Published: Nov 8, 2010 04:12 pm