I'm probably nuts, but to me, that the voice in the new Chevron commercials, the one talking about the power of geothermal energy and how cool it is that an oil company can be "part of the solution," sounds a lot like the voice of REM frontman Michael Stipe.
I can't find anything on the Web about it, and that makes me feel like the person in the first 15 minutes of an old monster movie. There's info about the campaign, PR releases and whatnot, but nothing mentioning who the spokesman is.
It's probably not Stipe -- in the normal course, they only mention the voice actor if it's somebody really famous... and if it's somebody famous, they mention it. But wow, just listen to 'Belong,' and try not to hear the same voice on the commercial.
Which all begs a few questions, some of which contradict one another: one, how good must this geothermal program be, to get Stipe on board? Two, how Gen-X must the advertising people be, to know that some of us would respond to a voice that sounds like Stipe's? Three, how far have Stipe's prospects fallen, if it turns out he's signed up to shill for an oil company? Four, I wonder if a singer can sue if a commercial entity intentionally imitates his speaking voice?
EDIT to add: I like what Tim is sayin' in the comments, about it being Campbell Scott. And lo and behold, the info becomes available when I search using Scott's name.
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7 comments:
Feb,
I just watched the ad on You Tube, and I think the voice is that of Campbell Scott, who does have a very similar timbre (excuse me while I talk out my ass, I have no idea of 'timbre' is the right word) and speaking voice to Michael Stipe.
No kidding. I thought it was totally distracting in "The Spanish Prisoner." Scott speaking Mamet is more Stipe than Stipe is.
dude, i just saw that commercial and thought exactly the same thing...dead on Michael Stipe!
Wow....just wow! If that's not Michael Stipe, well I don't know anything anymore....It was playing in the background and I turned to the TV and said....wow....
We were so convinced it was Michael Stipe that we did a Google search on Chevron Commercial Michael Stipe and wound up on this site. Let's hope the REM frontman hasn't sold out.
I think it is Tom Green... I'm pretty sure it is... what do you think?
As more than one person aptly told me, there's one very simple way to know that it's not Michael Stipe on the Chevron ads, or any other for that matter: Stipe simply would not be able to complete thirty seconds of speech of any kind without a rote political statement attacking George Bush or conservatives, even long after they're out of office. He just can't leave the old personal political nonsense out of every comment he makes. It's utterly tiresome.
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