Malaysia Cancels Brad Pitt

Pitt's ads are now banned in Malaysia after the government deemed him too pretty. Some Malaysian officials have banned together opposing Pitt's television spots for Toyota's Atlis line of automobiles, which ultimately forced them off the air. There were reported incidents of Pitt’s prettiness causing teenage girls in Taiwan to swipe posters of the actor’s Toyota ads. Guess he is just too sexy for Asia.

The country's national news agency, Bernama, quoted the Deputy Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin as saying, "We canceled the ads because they were considered an insult to Asians." Maidin also said ads featuring American celebrities "plant a sense of inferiority among Asians" and wondered why "we must use their faces in our advertisements? Aren't our own people handsome enough?" There was no comment available from Pitt’s camp.

Many American actors who refuse to do commercial work stateside will do commercials overseas because they stand to make millions off a 30-second beer spot or car commercial. Leonardo DiCaprio was reportedly paid $4 million to hock blue jeans and cars. Actors such as Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Aniston and Jodie Foster have lent their image to many Asian ads. Many celebrities prefer to do the ads overseas for fear of being accused of selling out in North America. If Brad isn’t careful, he won’t be able to work in any future Asian ads. Maybe a new version of Right Said Fred’s "I’m Too Sexy" should be updated to include Brad. "I’m too sexy for Malaysia… too sexy for Taiwan…too sexy, yeah!"