Brad Pitt as Himself: $7 Million
There aren’t as many brands as popular as Chanel, just like there weren’t as many actors as popular as Brad Pitt in the 90’s and early 2000’s. In a campaign for their famous “Chanel No. 5” perfume, the brand forked out a whopping $7 million to nab Pitt for the role of a leading man. The money turned out to be cash well spent, as it opened up the brand to men, increasing its popularity among a demographic that they had not yet familiarised the brand with. Better yet, this was a spending demographic, and sales soared. There’s one way to tell whether an advertisement has successfully landed in pop culture, namely when someone parodies it. This has happened countless times, showcasing just how star power a young Brad Pitt had at the height of his youth.
Brad Pitt
Angelina Jolie as Herself: $10 Million
Beauty runs in the family for the former Jolie-Pitt clan, and similar to her former spouse, Angelina Jolie has also nabbed high-profile commercial endorsements, especially at the height of her youth. Louis Vuitton, one of the most renowned brands for high-end fashion bags, paid an eight-figure sum of $10 000 000 for the actress to take part in a Cambodia-themed shoot. The location garnered some negative publicity from consumers, especially as a poor country was being showcased in stark contrast to a luxury brand and A-list celebrity. Sales soared regardless, but Jolie felt compelled to donate some of her earnings to charity to mitigate potential losses to her star power from the scandal. With that much money to go around for one shoot, what’s a couple of million dollars in the grander scheme of things?
Angelina Jolie
