Best Celebrity Cameo Appearances: Music Videos, Commercials, & More

Celebrities are known for engaging in cross-media promotions, which means you'll find them even in the most unexpected of places. For example, if you're using an online offer to explore new slots, then you'll notice more than a few celebrity cameos. Familiar faces like Elvis might not be too much of a surprise to find gracing an online slot, but what about seeing Regis Philbin or Ellen DeGeneres on a major slot?

In fact, they both appear in the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and the Road to Riches slots, respectively. Both can be found at popular online casinos, even if slots players weren’t expecting to see their favorite talk show and game show hosts there. And when it comes to unusual celebrity crossover promos, online slots are just the tip of the iceberg. 

Along with slots, things like video games, music videos, commercials, and even official airline safety messages might include a celebrity cameo. Think you’ve heard of the top appearances from stars looking to engage with fans? Think again.

Best Commercial: Best Buy

If there’s one recipe for success in celeb cameos, it’s putting together two things that seem to have nothing in common. Back in 2011, the great minds behind electronic retailer Best Buy decided to put pop star Justin Bieber alongside the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne. The result is a hilarious minute-long ad in which Osbourne attempts to film a commercial while a young Justin Bieber looks around, even more, confused and out of place than the Black Sabbath frontman.

Best Runner-Up: Amazon’s Alexa

In 2018, Amazon decided that putting two opposing celebrities together wouldn’t be enough to garner attention. Instead, they put several seemingly out-of-place celebrities into a commercial, including rapper Cardi B, actor Anthony Hopkins, and celeb chef Gordan Ramsay. The ad shows each attempting to command an Alexa device… with varying success. Cardi B screams about people wanting to go to Mars, Ramsay tries to figure out how to make a grilled cheese, and the ad itself is simple, effective, and very fun.

Best Music Video: ‘Judas’

This Lady Gaga hit turned out to be one of her most controversial—and the music video’s themes garnered many different fan reactions. However, the creative project from 2011 has one clear standout: Norman Reedus. The Walking Dead and Boondock Saints actor delivers a stellar performance that’s both brooding, sexy, and layered. So, what makes Norman Reedus the perfect choice? The actor has a reputation for playing grizzled heroes with plenty of bad-boy personality—perfect for the role of Judas.

Best Runner-Up: ‘Music’

Back in 2000, one of Lady Gaga’s greatest influences wasn’t trying to book the broodiest man in Hollywood for her music video. Instead, Madonna signed on one of the UK’s funniest and weirdest characters, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G, for her ‘Music’ music video. In it, Ali G is at his most Ali G, serving as a limousine driver for the starlet. As they drive from club to club, Cohen’s character follows her into the clubs to dance before heading back to the front seat to drive them to the next stop.

Best Film Cameo: Zoolander

One of the greatest cameos in comedy history comes from Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson’s Zoolander. The 2001 hit pits two incredibly vapid characters against one another in a male model showdown—and who better to judge the walk-off than David Bowie himself? Though it’s not remembered as one of the top Bowie cameos of all time, his appearance as a straight-faced version of himself is certainly one of his most on-brand.

Best Runner-Up: Shaun of the Dead

If you managed to sit through the comedy horror film Shaun of the Dead, which is a comedic riff on Dawn of the Dead and other popular horror films, then you saw one of the best film cameos in history. As the heroes all relax after saving the world, viewers see one final clip: a reality TV interview for a charity concert to help raise money to combat zombie-borne illnesses. And who is heading the concert? None other than Coldplay. In the film, Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland show up to promote a charity concert to raise funds for those affected by the zombie virus.