Celebrities continued to pop up in ads in 2021. Perhaps more stars were featured in campaigns because they had time as their movies, shows and tours continued to be delayed due to the pandemic. Or maybe marketers view celebrity star power, pricey as it may be, as the ultimate way to keep people tuned into ads and sharing them on social media.

Whatever the reason, there were plenty of stars out pitching products on our screens. In perhaps the biggest play of the year, BTS promoted its own Chicken McNugget meal—and lots of merch—at McDonald’s. 

See Ad Age’s 2021 Year in Review here.

Below, Ad Age revisits 10 of the best celebrity sightings in ads this year. 

10. Brad Pitt for De’Longhi

George Clooney and Hugh Jackman have already convinced viewers to buy coffee—Clooney has long promoted Nespresso and Jackman hypes his own brand, Laughing Man. This year, it was Pitt’s turn to get into the world of coffee. His ad, promoting an espresso machine from De’Longhi, feels a bit more like a film—maybe because it was directed by Oscar-winner Damien Chazelle.

9. Don Cheadle—and a bunch of celebrity lookalikes—for Michelob Ultra

What appeared to be truly the most star-studded ad of the year was a comedic exploration of celebrity culture. Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl spot appeared to feature Serena Williams, Lucy Liu, Usher and others. Turns out they were all fakes, except for Don Cheadle. The “All-Star Cast” ad was meant to hype that the brand’s organic seltzer is “as real as it tastes.” Some viewers may have been too focused on the lookalikes to notice the product.

Read more: The 12 biggest ad reviews of 2021

8. Subway’s star-studded refresh

Subway took the celebrity endorsement premise to the next level by featuring four of the biggest sports stars—Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Megan Rapinoe and Serena Williams—in its “Eat Fresh Refresh” campaign. Ads featuring the athletes plus voiceover work from Charles Barkley debuted in July. 

Later in the year, Brady appeared in a follow-up campaign promoting a new ultra low-carb bread served at Subway that even the bread-shy athlete can eat. 
 

7. Serena Williams for DirecTV

A couple is at home watching “Wonder Woman 1984” and suddenly Serena Williams takes over for Gal Gadot, yielding her tennis racket in a mall to battle robots while John McEnroe visits the food court. So, that sells—what exactly? The idea apparently is that DirecTV combines entertainment and live events. All we know is Williams would make an incredible addition to the cast of the next “Wonder Woman” film.

Read more: The 5 most unexpected ads of 2021

6. Bob Ross returns—to paint and drink Mtn Dew

Bob Ross, the TV painting personality, died in 1995 but was back on the air this year thanks to some sneaky CGI that seemingly brought him back to life in a Mtn Dew campaign. A commercial from PepsiCo’s Mtn Dew and agency TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, working with the Bob Ross Foundation, showed Ross painting and taking a break for a sip of the soft drink, teasing a longer tutorial video later posted on YouTube.

5. Kevin Hart’s Hydrow high

Celebrities and exercise were a popular combination in 2021, including LeBron James repping Tonal and Colin Kaepernick promoting at-home rowing brand Ergatta. It was Hart who brought comedic joy to the idea of getting Hydrow high off of the rush of working out at home in his campaign for rowing brand Hydrow. Hart channeled some of the same enthusiasm in his ads for retailer Sam’s Club.

 

4. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, plus Cardi B, for Uber Eats

Uber Eats’ “Tonight I’ll Be Eating” campaign began running in 2020 with Patrick Stewart and Mark Hamill divulging their meal order plans. This Super Bowl ad continued the effort, featuring Myers and Carvey reprising their "Wayne's World" roles as Wayne and Garth, with a bit of more up-to-date celebrity status added courtesy of Cardi B. Other celebrity pairings in the Uber Eats campaign this year included Simone Biles and Jonathan Van Ness, Leslie Jones and herself, and Elton John and Lil Nas X. The Uber Eats crew was quite busy in 2021. Among the other ads featuring those celebrities, Lil Nas X also got a role as Taco Bell’s first chief impact officer.

3. Annie Murphy for Phexxi

Was it Murphy’s star power that drew people in, or the decor of the room in the commercial that is meant to be her vagina? Few actors could have pulled off this ad filled with humor and innuendo plus the health industry standard list of possible side effects quite like the “Schitt’s Creek” and “Kevin Can F**k Himself” star. The ad for Phexxi, a form of hormone-free birth control, was created with an all-female creative, strategy and account team.

2. Ryan Reynolds for MNTN

The actor, who often promotes his own brands including Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile, sold his ad agency Maximum Effort to MNTN this year. And, while his appearance in campaigns often brightens our days, Maximum Effort proved that there is too much Ryan Reynolds in advertising. The agency made two ads for MNTN. In a test, the ad featuring just his narration outperformed the one featuring the actor onscreen.

“The brands who have paid me so much money for my face over the years have totally wasted their cash,” Reynolds said in an ad about the test. Reynolds, who is MNTN’s chief creative officer, appears in the ad about the test—so, yeah, you still see him anyway. 

1. Michael B. Jordan as Alexa

Seriously, Amazon—when can we buy this version of the Alexa voice-activated device that brings Michael B. Jordan into the comfort of your own home?

See Ad Age’s 2021 Year in Review here.