Jet Li Will Endorse For San Miguel(Who Knew That Pinoys Are The Ones Who Gave Him His Now Famous Screen Name?)

Thursday, June 28, 2007

It’s confirmed: Jet Li is the new Asian superstar endorser of San Miguel as Funfare hinted at in a scoop a few days ago.

As part of its efforts to strengthen further its presence in the Asian region, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has tapped Jet, who is set to appear in what SMC execs say is their biggest, most ambitious advertising campaign in Asia. Why Jet Li? According to a Funfare DPA, SMC execs believe he best embodies the core values of the brand: Leadership, excellence and integrity. Jet will be shooting the TVC in the country. Jet is slated to arrive quietly this week. While there is no final word on which brand he will endorse, our guess is that it will have to be an international SMC brand since the TVC will reportedly be aired all over Asia.

Few people know this but Jet actually got his screen name in the Philippines. A production company which released one of his early films locally was doing a promotional ad and got permission to change his Mandarin name Li Lian Jie to Jet Li.

They asked if they could drop the Lian and Anglicize his name so that his real name came first and his surname came last. It became Jie Li. Then one Filipino said, “Well his career is taking off like a jet plane so why don’t we call him Jet?”

According to our research, past SMC international endorsers include Tony Leung (The Lover), Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle), Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs) and Shu Qi (So Close).
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