I was looking for a hilarious Dutch TV ad about Commando, that over-the-top Arnold Schwarzenegger flick, when I came across these Japander ads. In case you were wondering, Japander refers to instances when well-known Hollywood folk take part in a Japanese ad, you know, for a lot of money and all that. Some of them are merely cute while others are really bad. Bad in a 'I can't believe they did this' way.

Brad Pitt in Jeans ad

Yep, he did a few commercials for one or more Japanese companies. The ones that I found were all about Edwin jeans. Some of them are quite decent but this one is particular was just … bizarre. The goofiest bit is when he turns around towards the end of the clip to snap 'Edwin' at the camera.

Cage and Aliens

This was one of those wtf moments. How is this supposed to promote anything? Check out that weird alien dance at 0:16. How sad is it that Cage is more tolerable here than in some of his big budget flicks? And considering he just looked confused and out of sync here, that's not saying much.

Hopper's Cute Ducky

Seems like some folks do it with style. I figured Dennis Hopper would do something manly and charming. Like the upcoming Anthony Hopkins ad. But instead he went for something far out. And, to his credit, the man pulled it off too.

V for Arnie?

Here's another one that can content with Nicholas Cage's epic fail moment. This one has The Governor, Arnie himself. He's been in a few Japanese ads but this one must be strangest. Predator is never going to be the same again!

Yogurt for Sean Connery

It's bad enough that folks laughed about him speaking Japanese in one of his flicks but … did he have to go and do this? This video shows Connery, yes Mr Bond himself, driving a car with a creepy rabbit character. And what's with the dubbed voices? Surely, one of his key features is his accent? Well, other than that famous glare.

Michael J. Fox is what?

This particular ad won't look so silly now that you have seen bunny-befriending Connery and Cage. It still gets points for its absurd content. Why is that most of these guys look like they are doing improv? A lot of the expressions and actions look fake. Well, given how a lot of them are doing it, maybe that's how the ad creators wanted them to act?

Do it like Hopkins

Remember the Anthony Hopkins ad I was talking about? Well, here it is. It follows the theme of, if you want to do something right, do it like this. Should be a lesson for all the other folks. I wonder, is he supposed to imitate Hannibal? Or am I the only one getting that vibe?

Never Get Old: Bowie

But my personal favorite has got to be David Bowie's Vittel ad. Incidentally they seem to love Bowie's glam rock side over there in Japan (which is a welcome sight being a Bowie fan myself). Call me biased but I think this is the best ad from the whole list.

Photo: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com