There is a great bit by the late comedian Bill Hicks where he talks about how any star that does advertising no longer gets to call themselves an artist. His theory was that if you have the kind of money that comes with being a superstar, you really don't need to be helping out rich people selling meaningless posessions. His language was a bit more savoury than we can use here, but if you're interested it is definitely a bit worth checking out on YouTube because it is both hilarious and insightful. In the west at least, it seems that a lot of celebrities take this heart. While they will all lend their visage to anyone that has money in places like Japan, a lot of the time they aren't willing to put their face to a TV spot that is selling debt or junk food in places like the USA. It's like that kind of selling out is a bit too embarrassing for these icons of screen and they don't want to be judged as simply capitalist stooges. However while they won't put their face on a product, celebrities are inexplicably happy to lend their voice to these empty and cynical pieces of commercialisation. And it's really kind of strange because these aren't young actors trying to make a break and earn a cheque - these are established figures that are brands in and of themselves. They normally don't need the money or the exposure, and just seem to be doing it for the pay cheque alone. Which is incredibly cynical when you think about it. There are hundreds of stars that lend their voices to big business - but these have got to be among the most surprising.