This week, Avon named Jon Bon Jovi the “celebrity fragrance partner” for a line of concert-inspired fragrances: “Unplugged for Her” and “Unplugged for Him.” I’m not exactly sure how the concert-going experience could inspire a perfume, unless there’s a market for a fragrance that combines the smell of sweaty bodies, spilt beer and pot smoke. But I digress.

Watch Bon Jovi's Avon Promo Video

 

The only thing stranger than concert cologne is the fact that Bon Jovi and Avon are teaming up to sell it. Remember those catalogues your mom’s neighbour always brought over? Not exactly synonymous with rock ’n’ roll. Michael Buble seems more up Avon’s alley.

Here’s a look at a few other incongruous product endorsements:

Ween’s Pizza Hut jingle (explicit)



OK, I guess stoner rock and pizza are the perfect pairing. But Pizza Hut seemed pretty gutsy when they let an ad firm hire Ween to record a jingle for their new “Insider” pizza in 2002. Turns out, Ween’s “Where’d the Cheese Go?” wasn’t quite up to the Hut’s standards, so the jingle was never used. But the band released it to fans in 2004, saying it was “one of the best tunes [they] wrote” in
that period. You can hear both the clean and explicit version above. 

Johnny Rotten’s Country Life butter commercial



In 2008, the Sex Pistols singer was the face of a nearly $10 million TV ad campaign for Country Life butter in the U.K. The iconic punk rocker donned a tweed jacket and trousers and walked around the countryside singing the praises of the spreadable dairy product. We all expected a butter commercial from Ozzy Osbourne,  but John Lydon’s vegan punk followers weren’t impressed.In a recent interview with The Guardian, the singer advertised his endorsement services, saying “I’m prepared to endorse any hairspray or underarm deodorant for the money to do what I wanna do.”

Steven Tyler for Burger King



Amidst news this spring that B.K. was losing market share in the U.S., the fast food giant sought the help of Aerosmith’s frontman to help the sell their new “Crispy Chicken Strips.” I could understand Tyler promoting a line of scarves on the shopping network, but deep fried chicken pieces? I find this commercial a little unappetizing.

Iggy Pop sells Swiftcover insurance



You’d think this guy would be uninsurable, given his knack for rolling around in broken glass. What makes this commercial even weirder is the presence of an Iggy Pop marionette, which is supposed to represent the wild side of Iggy, I guess.


Any odd ad pairings you’d like to share? Post them in the comments.

posted by Elliott Garnier on Jul 07, 2012