It takes the right kind of out-of-control behavior to push product. Not everyone has it. Lindsay Lohan certainly doesn't. One man most certainly does: Charlie Sheen.
At least that's the word from image specialist Ronn Torossian after viewing Sheen's new ads for Fiat and DirecTV.
"His brand is a lot different than the Lindsay Lohan brand, which is seen as a perpetual car crash," Torossian, the president of the 5WPR agency, told The Huffington Post on Monday. "He's going about it in a more likable matter."
By acting in commercials that celebrate his bad-boy attitude, Sheen continues to image rehab from publicly jumping last year into a vortex of drugs, lifestyle oversharing, and losing his starring role in the world's most profitable sitcom.
In a 30-second commercial for Fiat, former "2 1/2 Men" and soon-to-be "Anger Management" star screeches a Fiat Abarth through a mansion packed with party vixens. "I love house arrest," he declares. Then he turns to Catrinel Menghia, whose Super Bowl Fiat ad amassed millions of hits, and coos, "What do I get for good behavior?"
In the spot for DirecTV, a Regular Joe who can't get DirecTV lands in a Turkish bath with Sheen, then in a living room with the armed-and-kooky celeb playing out scenes from "Platoon." The moral is, not having DirecTV leads to bad things.
"This is an excellent comeback," said Torossian, who has represented Snoop Dogg and Pamela Anderson -- neither an obvious first choice for the church choir. "Ads like this, using a recent headline personality, have great success in creating a connection with viewers as well as the added bonus of free buzz publicity."
What's your opinion? Is Sheen back on a winning streak?
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Posted: 03/05/12 01:21 PM ET | Updated: 03/05/12 03:48 PM ET