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A short history of embarrassing celebrity endorsements

David Beckham's face has been used to promote Asian hair gel Cock Grease 
David Beckham's face has been used to promote Asian hair gel Cock Grease

He's a famous former footballer and long-term fashion icon, recognised and adored by fans around the world. He's endorsed high-end brands like Haig Club whisky and Armani, and global behemoths Gillette and Adidas. 

But now David Beckham is the face of a slightly more dubious product... Cock Grease, to put it bluntly. Thankfully, Cock Grease isn't what you might initially thing: despite its 'Xxtra hard' tagline, the product is a hair gel that's popular in China and Japan. 

It remains unclear whether Beckham has officially endorsed the company (a source indicated to The Mirror that he has not), which in the past has used the faces of actors Bradley Cooper and Jamie Dornan to hawk its wares. Either way, the image has now been seen by flocks of people on social media. 

Poor Becks is not the only celebrity caught in advertising controversy this week. Gordon Ramsay, famed for insulting wannabe chefs and degrading bedraggled American restaurateurs, was accused of hypocrisy after endorsing a beer considered by some to be "the worst beer in the world".

In the advert, Ramsay can be seen praising Cass as a "great beer" and "bloody fresh".

This week's events are merely the latest in a long history of horrific celebrity endorsements. From Harvey Keitel's spoof of his own Pulp Fiction character to Ringo Starr's cringeworthy Japanese ads, here's a brief history of what happens when the rich and famous sell out... 

1. Ringo Starr promoting Japanese apple juice

A mispronunciation provides the backbone for this embarrassing plug as the Beatles drummer's name gets lost in translation. 

2. EE's Kevin Bacon overload

Kevin Bacon killed five birds with one stone in this installment of his long-running EE endorsement. It's possibly the least funny in a series of desperately unfunny ads. 

3. Harvey Keitel kills his Pulp Fiction character 

Legendary actor Harvey Keitel, of Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs and Thelma & Louise fame, reprises his much-loved Winston Wolfe role from cult classic Pulp Fiction for a series of questionable Direct Line adverts. 

One of the most embarrassing is this number, in which Keitel sorts a replacement car for a bunch of hen girls, only to find a blow-up sex doll in the trunk.

4. Pepsi fail to do their research on Madonna

There's nothing inherently wrong with this commercial, a great song and a reasonable premise.

In 1989 Pepsi gave Madonna over $5 million to use "Like a Prayer" to plug its product in a commercial broadcast to almost 250 million people during The Cosby Show. 

What Pepsi failed to realise is that in Madonna's music video for the same song she is seen witnessing a rape and gyrating around a burning cross – controversial to say the least. Needless to say Pepsi soon pulled the ad.

5. Snoop Dogg gets down with car insurance 

Snoop Dogg is popular for his laid-back attitude, extensive back catalogue and humorous commentary on pop culture. But he's never come across as a stickler for the best car insurance deals. 

Even Snoop fails to make car insurance cool. 

6. Ozzy Osbourne can't believe it's not butter

If anything's going to make you want to buy a butter substitute, it's probably not a rambling old metalhead cracking an egg onto a skull to make fairy cakes. 

The only thing that makes that sentence stranger is that this ad featured two rambling old metalheads making fairy cakes.

7. More old rockers and butter

It seems advertising executives in the noughties thought old rockers and butter were a match made in heaven. 

Here John Lydon (previously Johnny Rotten), espouses the taste of Country Life butter in a very un-punk tweed suit - and manages to slip in a risque pronunciation of country while he's at it. 

8. The weird Iggy Pop doll

There's a bit of a formula emerging here. Insurance companies + stars in need of a quick buck = cringe. 

Iggy Pop already looks like a Spitting Image puppet, so to see him tucked into bed with an actual puppet of himself is disconcerting to say the least. 

9. Bob Dylan sells out

Bob Dylan used to stick it to the man, but can now be found peering creepily at younger models to promote multi-billion dollar corporations.

Tangled up in blue thoughts, Bob?