A belief of
Bill Hicks' which questions the validity of artists who lend themselves to doing
commercials, born primarily from Bill's much-documented
hatred of the twin evils,
marketing and
advertising.
"Here's the deal, folks. You do a commercial, you're off the artistic roll call forever. End of story. You're another corporate shill, you're another whore at the capitalist gang-bang, and if you do a commercial there's a price on your head, everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is like a turd falling into my drink."
- from rant in e-minor
According to Bill, this applies to everyone except Willy Nelson, the rules being waived in his case due to his astronomical IRS debts.
Whether you buy into the belief or not, and a lot of Bill Hicks fans do, you really have to ask how much money one person needs if they're earning millions a year and still feels the need to become a salesperson for a particular product or company to make more. And with the credits list for each commercial break these days reading like the cast list for the latest Hollywood blockbuster, the roll call is getting very short.
We have Anthony Hopkins advising us to get a pension. Tim Roth tells us in a proud and happy voice that a big world needs a big bank. And Gary Oldman is selling us mobile phones, for God's sake.