Owen Wilson Does His Best Steve Jobs Impression for a Beauty Startup Ad

Prolific actor Owen Wilson has a new gig, and at first glance, it may seem like he’s playing tech entrepreneur Steve Jobs, complete with the trademark black turtleneck and PowerPoint presentation in front of a cheering crowd.

“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” Wilson tells a rapt audience in a just-dropped video. 

In fact, Wilson has landed his first commercial endorsement in the U.S., co-writing and starring in a cheeky ad that borrows heavily from the iconic reveal of the first iPhone in 2007.

Instead of Silicon Valley visionary, Wilson is the “chief shampoo officer” of a nascent brand called California Naturals. And with the nearly 2-minute spot—which guest stars his real-life fluffy Labrador named Waffles—Wilson is introducing three new hair and body care products, not a pocket-sized supercomputer.

Wilson—whose extensive résumé includes a number of Wes Anderson films, along with Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Loki—has tended to shy away from commercial work. He has some international ads on his CV, plus a bit of voiceover work for American brands.

His partnership with California Naturals, in which he’s an investor and advisor, is his first official spokesman deal.

Writing bona fides

With Wilson as a collaborator, the brand’s lean in-house team gave him free rein on the ad’s concept and worked with him on the script, according to Georgie Holliday, vice president of retail and brand marketing at California Naturals.

“We didn’t want to do an old-school, conventional ad,” Holliday told ADWEEK. “Younger generations get bombarded with those and don’t find them interesting.”

Going the long-form storytelling route would mean more work but might have a better chance of breaking through with consumers while California Naturals is in its critical brand-building phase, said Holliday, who noted the company is handling most of its marketing and content production internally.

It took very little convincing to let Wilson have a hand in the copywriting, Holliday said, given his Oscar nomination for best original screenplay for The Royal Tenenbaums.

The brand hooked up with Wilson earlier this year, debuting a trend-forward “get ready with me” video to boost the gender-neutral brand. This week’s effort, “Meet Moisture,” which announces a trio of new products, is the second digital ad.

Unexpected choice

California Naturals—which distributes via its website, Amazon and in Target nationally—wanted a celebrity to help it quickly establish itself in a jam-packed, commoditized category.

But aligning with a woman seemed “too expected,” according to founder Shelby Wild, a serial entrepreneur in the beauty industry.

“Consumers are feeling fatigued because it seems like every female celebrity has a beauty line,” Wild said. “We wanted to do something a little different, more playful and breathe life back into the mass space.”

Surf’s up

Execs decided to approach Wilson because they thought he fit well with the brand. The actor is a Texas native, yet has a surfer dude image and beachy, memorable hair. (He told the California Naturals team that he’s a frequent Pacific Ocean swimmer.)

“He lives the Southern California lifestyle of the brand,” Wild said.

Through a fortuitous connection—Holliday’s husband, Frank Walsh, is a brand consultant-talent manager with ties to Wilson—the match was made.

Wilson, whose involvement with the brand extends from R&D and testing to company direction, is narrating ads that focus on product attributes. And, Wild said, he may also inspire a future male-skewing line.