Here's How Much TV Commercial Actors Really Make

What's your favorite one?

What's your favorite commercial as a kid or even these days? Some of them really make an impression and I guess that's why they got the job. Ever wonder how much these talented actors and actresses make? 

They are paid a lot! Here’s how much they get. 

The Pine-Sol Woman

Clorox acquired the popular cleaning product Pine-Sol in 1990 and they had the veteran actress Diane Amos do their commercial. The salary deal for the actress was $250,000! Not only did she appear in the commercials but she also served as the company’s spokesperson since 2002.

Now let’s get to know the Red girl…

The Wendy’s Girl

“Red” who appeared in commercials for Wendy’s commercial from 2012-2016 was played by Morgan Smith-Goodwin. Nope, her hair is not really red. She was born blonde but she dyes it for her commercial role. Who wouldn’t go for the hair dyeing if you will be offered 43 million dollars?

The Target Lady is next…

The Target Lady

The actress who appeared in the commercial of Target was Maria Bamford who is also a stand-up artist and a voice artist. She has done many voiceovers aside from the Target commercial such as in Bojack Horseman, CatDog, Adventure Time, and more. She earned $300,000 just for the Target stint alone. 

Let’s know now who the most interesting man in the world is…

The Most Interesting Man in the World

Who would not know the most interesting man in the world? Well, according to Dos Equis’ commercial, it’s Jonathan Goldsmith. This man has been an actor since 1963 and his commercials for the brand became so popular that it increased the sales by 15.4%. He received $1 million for it. 

The same rate goes for T-mobile girl…

The T-Mobile Girl

Guess what? It was only because Carly Foulkes answered a random ad in 2009 that she then became the T-mobile girl. She is now a commercial staple typically wearing pink-and-white leather biker gear. She only appeared in commercials from 2010-2013 but she makes guests appearances since then. She received 1 million dollars for her T-mobile commercial. 

The Toyota Girl received that much too… 

The Toyota Girl

The Toyota commercials were the ones that made Laurel Coppock famous as she played a fun, aspiring employee named Jan. Not only that, but she was also paid 1 million dollars for her commercial performance and she’s been part of other shows like Arrested Development, The Office, and Modern Family. 

Get to know the Orbit Gum Girl next…

The Orbit Gum Girl

Farris Patton who is also a model and actress became best-known for her Orbit Gum commercials. Thanks to her bright-white, flashy smile to convince anyone to chew the gum, she was paid $500,000 dollars! She has also participated in other projects like 90210, Little Hercules, Redline, and The Playbook. 

Now, have you heard about the Can-You-Hear-Me-Now guy?

The “Can You Hear Me Now?” Guy

The five words said by this guy became a famous phrase after the successful result of the popular Verizon ad. The man behind those commercials was Paul Marcarelli. Through those 5 words, he became rich with 9 million dollars in his pocket! He starred in the commercial from 2001-2010, then he transferred to Sprint. 

The next one is recognizable…

The Maytag Man

Colin Ferguson is easily recognizable not just for his roles on a few television series, but for his Maytag Man role. He became the Maytag Man in 2014 and he has shot many commercials with them since. The actor got 1 million dollars just for this commercial alone. 

Let’s move to the InVinceable guy…

The InVinceable Guy

As he’s also known to slew kitchen products, he nailed it as the inVinceable. Vince Offer is known as a comedian and writer and sometimes he also writes and stars for commercials. For the InVinceable stint alone, he received 2 million dollars. 

Little Mikey from Life Cereal follows…

Little Mikey from Life Cereal

John Gilchrist and his real-life brothers are the ones who played on the commercial for Life Cereal.  It became so popular that it even won the Clio award in 1974. Moreover, it is often referred to as one of the top ten commercials of all time. The little guy received 10 million dollars for that ad. 

Let’s see how much the Dell dude got…

The Dell Computer Dude

It was Benjamin Curtis who starred in the well-received series of Dell commercials. Before he became a talented actor, he was first a very talented magician. Guess what? Maybe he used magic as he still got the Dell role despite being 3 years over the desired age range. He got $50,000 for it. 

Off to the next commercial now…

The 7 Up Guy

Not only did Orlando Jones appeared on a 7 Up commercial but he also successfully became the spokesperson for 7 Up from 1999 until 2012. It was because of his comedic personality and writing skills that 7 Up chose him to be their commercial representative. He was paid $500,000 for it. 

Then there’s the Trivago guy…

The Trivago Guy

German Actor Timothy Williams was the featured Hotel Site Trivago man. It became a successful ad campaign. Now he is currently busy with his current project which is focusing on music. Lastly, he was done with his Trivago stint which paid him $20,000 dollars back in 2012. 

Let’s now see why the 90s Pepsi Girl is familiar…

The 90s Pepsi Girl

Hallie Eisenberg must be familiar as she was the sister of Jesse Eisenberg who was in The Social Network. Hallie was the one who played Little Amanda, or the Pepsi Girl back in the 90s where she received 1 million dollars as payment. She then moved on to work in non-commercial projects such as Paulie. 

Now, who’s the 60’s, Dr. Pepper Girl?

Sixties Dr. Pepper Girl

Known as one of the most famous female vocalists of all time, Donna Loren was signed to a Pepsi contract very early in her career. Then she signed up for more ads campaign such as “If I Can Sew, You Can Sew”. For her Dr. Pepper girl stint, she was paid $500 dollars. 

The next one is about a gecko…

The GEICO Gecko

Ever wondered who the voice of the GEICO Gecko was? It was Jake Wood who also happens to be a star in the soap opera EastEnders. He replaced Kelsey Grammer as the cockney-voiced gecko and he was paid a whopping 3 million dollars for it. 

The next guy received almost 3 times of it…

Ronald McDonald

Willard Scott was just a local WRC-TV radio personality at first who worked as Bozo the Clown for the radio station. However, he caught the eye of the Ronald McDonald's ad executives and he then became “The Hamburger Happy Clown.” He portrayed the famous fast-food clown in 1963 and got paid 10 million dollars for it. 

Still curious? 

Fred the Baker

You may be wondering where commercial have you heard Fred the Baker, well, it’s on the Dunkin Donuts commercial. The role was played by Michael Vale and his slogan was “Time to make the donuts”. 

It became so popular and he was paid $1 million for that stint. When he retired from his role, it became a national celebration for the company.

Colonel Sanders

The white-clad and mustached businessman owner of KFC as he was featured on the ad was no other than Harlan Sanders. His face is even memorialized in the company logo. But as he was also the company’s spokesperson he also received a salary of $40,000 for life through those commercials. 

Do you remember Morris The Cat?

Morris The Cat

Yep, Morris, the cat was a real cat but his voice is not. The one who did the voice-over for Morris was John Erwin of the Masters of the Universe. They are playing for the commercial of 9Lives and on that stint, John Erwin received $56,000. 

The next one is also good at voice-overs and talking in general… 

FedEx’s Fast-Talker

John Moschitta who is also known as Motormouth was the advertiser for FedEx's rapid delivery service. He can speak at a rate of 586 words per minute! He even broke the world record for the fastest talker in the 1980s. John was paid $3 million for his FedEx commercials. 

Whassup guy has beaten that though…

“Whassup?” Guy

Before Charles Stone III became famous for his projects with Nick Cannon, or Bernie Mack, he was first in a commercial for Budweiser and he was the one who spoke the famous line “Whassup.” He, later on, reprised the role for a presidential campaign. Just for the Budweiser ad alone, he already received $8 million. 

You’ll be surprised by the next one…

The Safeguard Singer

Now, here’s a famous face by this time, but he really was not that famous by the time that he starred in the Safeguard Commercial. John Travolta’s singing for the soap commercial was aired in the 1970s and when it can be played today, maybe it can take people on a trip down memory lane. Travolta got $70,000 for that stint. 

Then there are the commercials that make the actor famous… 

The Doritos Kid

It’s funny when Tobey Maguire later said that he would never eat Doritos again after he has eaten so many during the shoot. It was actually the commercial that was his career kick-off. The boy who was just in 8th grade by that time received $5000 for that ad. 

The next one has earned a lot… 

Sandra Savealot

Actress, singer, and director Alyssa Milano has a net worth of 10 million dollars and a small portion of it came from her brief role as Sandra Savealot for the MCI’s commercials. It became a pretty popular commercial in the 90s and she received 1 million dollars for that ad. 

It’s impressive as the next guy…

Mr. “Dumass”

Nope, that is not a spelling mistake. It’s just as A&W Rootbeer has in their sassy commercial that starred Stu Williams. T is said that the actor still remembers his root beer commercial fondly and when he uploaded all this on his YouTube channel, it gained more than a million views. He also received $50,000 for it. 

Look at the next, Captain Morgan welcomed someone aboard too…

Captain Morgan’s Chief Party Officer 

Adam Devine was invited onboard Captain Morgan’s alcohol brand in 2018 where he starred alongside the captain in the commercial campaign of the brand. Devine has already played so many roles aside from that commercial such as in Pitch perfect, Workaholics, and Game Over, Man. He was paid $3 million dollars for his Captain Morgan appearance alone. 

Then there’s Golden Girls’ Betty… 

“You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” Lady

The Golden Girl’s Betty White does not really fail in her projects and she still got the dazzle when she teamed up with Snickers in 2010. Her “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry”  ad became so popular and she was paid $5 million for that commercial and that made her get more acting opportunities later on. 

The next one is a Doughboy…

The Pillsbury Doughboy

It was the “Man of Many Voices” or Paul Frees who played as the voice of Pillsbury Doughboy for the series of ads back in the 90s. His famous voice was also used in Rudolph & Frosty, and other Christmas movies. He had acted in person, but it was really his voice that’s more famous and he was paid 1 million dollars for this ad alone. 

Let's get to know the DriveTime girls next…

DriveTime Girl 1

The DriveTime Girl 1 was no other than comedienne Nicole Randall Johnson who was also a TV actress. She was hired in 2013 by the auto loan company DriveTime together with Katie Crown for the ad campaign of DriveTime Girls. The two girls portrayed an eccentric duo in this ad. Nicole was paid $100,000 for this commercial alone. 

Here’s her partner… 

DriveTime Girl 2

As it was mentioned earlier, Katie Crown was the one with Nicole Johnson and she is also a comedienne herself. She has also played the voice of some famous characters and has appeared in some shows. She has also won critical acclaim for her voice acting. Same with Nicole, she received $100,000 for the commercial. 

Let’s go to the popcorn man…

The Cracker Jack Thief

Jack Gilford has played and starred in many different commercials of Cracker Jack. He appeared on the popcorn company ads for 12 years and he was then recognized as the “rubbery-faced man” because of the commercials. Though the ad was banned in many non-American countries for its ending, he was still paid $1000 per ad. 

Now, here’s another Hallmark’s tear-jerking commercial…

The “100th Birthday” Woman

It was really worth it to call the Hallmark commercials tear-jerker ones, just look at this commercial they had with Fannie Peterson who really turned 100 years old that time. It was one of Hallmark’s most memorable commercial and it is also one of the cutest. The payment that the Centurion lady got for it was not disclosed though. 

It’s time to talk about Nike’s Munoz…

“Munoz”

When it comes to being socially progressive, Nike is really always at the top of the game, and when it released its commercial that starred Ric Munoz, it was no exception. He was hired by Nike to raise awareness for his disease and despite the stigma, he ran (no pun intended) for it. He was paid by the brand $65,000 for his appearance. 

The next is a legendary pitchman…

“Handkerchief”

Described by the NWI Times as a legendary pitchman, Jobe Cerny really did not fail them for that title. He worked for the Cheer Commercial in which he helps up a dirty handkerchief to let the viewers see the dirt before plunging it into the detergent. It was spotless when he pulled it out. For that, he received $10,000. 

Let’s go to Mrs. Olson…

Folger’s Mrs. Olson

When a commercial is long-running, it will surely plant itself on the consumer’s minds and Folger’s got it right. They got Virginia Christine to play the role of Mrs. Olson and she would offer comforting words to new couples over a hot cup of coffee. She received $10,000 per ad. 

The next commercial seems to have brought someone back to life…

The “Marilyn” Monroe 

When Georgette Belmont, the EIC of Marie Clare discovered that Monroe’s favorite perfume was Chanel no. 5 and that she never wore anything else, a high-tech campaign ad that was able to resurrect Monroe’s form to advertise Chanel no. 5 perfume was made. Carole Bouquet’s was shot as Monroe and after some editing, it was Monroe’s face that was really shown. She’s still paid $200,000 dollars for it! 

These people had really earned a lot through their commercials and not only that, but some also have skyrocketed to fame because of an ad campaign they starred in. Which commercial is familiar to you and which one did you find to be the most shocking when you learned that they earned that much? Leave us a comment to let us know!