The Chinese ad sees a CGI recreation of Lee advise the viewer to "be water, my friend, because someday you'll be more than a success". It's revealed in the final moments that this isn't just some sort of long-forgotten motivational speech, but an advertisement for Johnnie Walker whiskey.
The Bruce Lee ad raises a range of ethical concerns about using dead celebrities (called 'delebs' by some, but not us). Would Bruce Lee agree to sell whiskey if he was alive? Should his estate be allowed to license the martial art superstar's image for these purposes? Should we even be in a situation where we need to ask these questions?
Still, dubious morality aside, it's hardly a new trend. Here are some more examples of well-known faces that have been summoned from beyond the grave to appear in short advertisements. Was there ever reason behind the madness?
Orville Redenbacher
You've heard of the 'uncanny valley' before: the theory that suggests CGI humans will never look exactly right. This, though, is the 'uncanny haunted cemetery'. The Orville Redenbacher popcorn company decided to use their founder's CGI likeness in a lighthearted 2007 advertisement. The results are the stuff of nightmares. Genuinely terrifying.
Audrey Hepburn
Another recent example of posthumous advertising is this example of a Galaxy ad featuring a CGI Audrey Hepburn (in 2006, a Gap ad also utilised Hepburn's likeness by reappropriating a dance scene from Funny Face). The chocolate ad was produced with the permission of Hepburn's two sons. While there's still something distinctly... 'off' about this Hepburn, at the very least the computer technology has improved since the nightmare days of 'devil Redenbacher'.
John Lennon
It's not just celebrity faces that have been remade through advances in technology. This ad uses voice technology to put digitised words in John Lennon's mouth. The ad is for a charity aiming to provide children in developing countries with laptops - at least a more charitable concern than the commercials so far. The predictably vocal YouTube community don't think that's a good enough cause, though, with one viewer wondering "Laptops? Don't kids need more important things, like food? And shelter? And clean drinking water?"
Freddie Mercury
What's a list of weird advertisements without an example from Japan? We're not quite sure what the relationship between Freddie Mercury and pot noodles is, but obviously Nissin noodle company get it.
Kurt Cobain / Sid Vicious / Joey Ramone
Three late counter-culture musical icons. Selling boots. In heaven. It's baffling that anyone in the Saatchi & Saatchi advertising company thought this was a good call, but the firm were fired from the Doc Marten account as a result. With good cause, we'd suggest.
Bob Monkhouse
There's dozens more we could choose from, but let's end with one that's hard to object to. Four years after his death from cancer, TV personality Bob Monkhouse appeared in both print & TV cancer awareness ads. The campaign had the full blessing of Monkhouse's family, and it's hard to imagine the iconic comedian objecting to the equally affecting and amusing results.
