Wednesday, July 27, 2011

9085: Authenticity Not Required.


Advertising Age reported on the actor playing a Russian rich guy in the DIRECTV spots—and revealed he is actually Irish. Leave it to Madison Avenue to create fake cultural stereotypes with White men. It’s a wonder advertising agency Grey didn’t use Robert Downey, Jr. to play The Truth.

Mini-Giraffe-Toting Actor From DirecTV Ads Sued Over Bar Brawl

‘Not the First Irishman to Be in a Bar When a Fight Breaks Out,’ DirecTV Says

By Rupal Parekh

The actor who stars as a Russian billionaire with a penchant for “lap giraffes” in DirecTV’s ad campaign is now the target of a lawsuit after he allegedly punched someone in the face at a Los Angeles bar, according to TMZ.

While many marketers might react swiftly in such a scenario, severing a contract with an actor in order to be safe, DirecTV says it’s taking a wait-and-see approach. And for now, it doesn’t seem like they have much of a problem with what the actor, Timothy Murphy, does whilst he’s not on set.

“We don’t have any details so it’s tough to say if this will affect the campaign one way or another, but with family from County Cork myself, I’m pretty sure Tim is not the first Irishman to be in a bar when a fight breaks out,” DirecTV spokesman Jon Gieselman told Ad Age. The agency responsible for creating the ads, Grey, New York, did not immediately have a comment.

Even if DirecTV does change its mind and decides to dump him, it seems like Mr. Murphy has plenty of other work. The actor, who has appeared in episodes of “Chuck”, “CSI”, “Nip/Tuck” and “24”, is in the midst of shooting several upcoming films according to IMDB, including one in which Ben Kingsley and Thora Birch will be his co-stars.

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