Jaguar released this ad for their new model, the XF, on March of this year. The tagline Jaguar is using to advertise their model is #GoodToBeBad. Going off the idea of “Good To Be Bad” Jaguar decided to contract Benedict Cumberbatch to voice the commercial. In his rising fame as Sherlock, a modern twist on Sir Arthur Doyle’s detective Sherlock Holmes, the media has evolved Cumberbatch from sexy English actor to “bad boy.” His proper English attitude that always had a twist of “I-do-what-I-like” mixed in has completely turn into the alluring, photo bombing, sexy voice, devil may care: bad boy. His new look, rising awareness to the world (not only British audience) and his sexy voice is what attracted Jaguar to Cumberbatch.
As you can see in the video, the sleek, smooth, and ferocious Jaguar XF represents Cumberbatch himself. A badass look and feel fit for a bad boy like Cumberbatch. This commercial led them to film and release another commercial with Benedict Cumberbatch actually driving the car while stating what drives him in life. This commercial is good publicity if he wants to keep his bad boy look going. That car is suitable for a bad boy persona like his. This item, as well as the show Sherlock is benefiting from this bad boy car commercial.
So what does it mean when an actor becomes the voice and even the face of a product? What’s his relationship to the product? What does the relationship do for his celebrity, other than offer him a huge amount of money? Let’s think about sponsorship and becoming the face/voice of something being sold.