I had quite a laugh the other day when I noticed a Facebook ad for Cameo. Have you heard of it? It’s a service where you can pay for a personalized video message from a celebrity. I first heard about it in the Duggar Family News Group because Jinger Duggar Vuolo had signed up for it. It looks like Jinger is not doing messages now, so I don’t know what her rate is. However, the Hoff’s messages are apparently quite pricey… For a message, one must pay 276 euros (about $300).
I never watched the Hoff on Knight Rider, although that was a very popular show when I was growing up. I do remember seeing him on Baywatch, although I wasn’t a regular viewer of that show. I most fondly remember seeing him on America’s Got Talent. He struck me as a major asshole on that show, but in an entertaining way. It was fun watching him go head to head with Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne, as well as certain contestants.
The Hoff was kind of handsome when he was young. I can’t deny that. But he kind of acts like Larry the Lobster, too. In fact, I bet Larry the Lobster on Spongebob Squarepants was fashioned after David Hasselhoff’s character, Mitch Buchanan, on Baywatch.
I have to admit that he doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously in his Cameo ad, either. He’s standing there, holding one of those orange buoy thingies he always had on Baywatch. He’s seems friendly and laid back, and for $300 a pop, he’d damned well better be!
If I had $300 to throw away, maybe I’d be interested in talking to David Hasselhoff. But I think I’d rather watch videos of him on YouTube. He was a good sport on AGT last year, too.
Seriously, though… I guess he needs money and making videos on Cameo is a way to get some money. If you go on his Cameo page, you can see some samples of his “work”. I wonder if he’s ad libbing or someone has made a script. It looks a little like he’s reading. I played one for Bill and he said it sounded like maybe the Hoff was drunk. I don’t know that he was drunk, but he did sound a little bit stilted, like maybe he wasn’t his natural self. But then, who is among people from Hollywood?
Frankly, as a child of the 70s and 80s, I might get more excited about a Cameo from Larry Wilcox of CHiPs. I used to love that show. Also, Larry Wilcox reminds me of Bill. Erik Estrada is not on Cameo. Neither is Sharon Osbourne, although Jack Osbourne has a profile. I guess everybody has to eat. John Kassir of Tales From the Crypt is also on Cameo. I would be into getting a video from him, too! I loved that show, too! Shit– all of the best TV shows were on thirty years or more ago.
Barry Williams, of The Brady Bunch, is also on Cameo. I am a true Brady fan, but I actually met Barry once in the 1990s. He came to Longwood to talk about his book, Growing Up Brady. I remember thinking he was kind of phony, although I did enjoy his talk. I wonder if Vanilla Ice is on Cameo… (he’s not)… but Kevin McDonald of Kids in the Hall is! I love that show! Dave Foley is on Cameo, too!
Oh gawd, I’m going to be looking at this all day… which beats the hell out of looking at Facebook, doesn’t it? I guess, if anything, the Cameo videos show us that celebrities are people too… and a lot of them are weirder than you think they are.