We often talk about the child actors of our childhood and even the destinies of child singers, but we talk much less about the child stars of advertisements. Yet these kids have accompanied our lives with their fake glossy smiles and shrill voices on television. For us, these children are frozen in time but the actors have now grown up.
1. The first Kinder child
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In 1973, Günter Euringer is a 10-year-old German boy who participates in a casting for Ferrero. He is chosen among many other children and is photographed to appear on the packets of Kinder Maxi, the chocolate bars. He only gets 300 Deutsche Mark, or about €150, and his face becomes famous all over the world. Today, Günter is 57 years old and has become a filmmaker after having made a career in the world of advertising.
2. The next generation Kinder child
In 2005, Ferrero decided to change the face on the Kinder packages and chose a new little boy with the perfect smile. This boy is Josh Bateson, a 10-year-old British boy. He is now 25 years old and is an influencer on social networks in addition to working in marketing.
3. The little girl from Quézac
In 1995, a Quézac ad came out that made the cottages cry: The legenddirected by Ridley Scott (yes yes, the director ofAlien). Emilie Delaunay was 11 years old and told, in Occitan, the legend which would have given birth to the water of Quézac. The words “que s’appellorio Quézac” stuck in consumers’ memories and made the sparkling water brand known. Émilie Delaunay is now an actress and has played in several TV movies. In 2017, then aged 33, she starred in a new Quézac ad: a sequel to the 1995 ad where she passed on the legend to her child.
4. The little girl who wanted Knacki
In 2006, Marie-Elisabeth Bronn played in a Herta commercial for Knacki sausages and immediately won over the public with her cult phrase: “But you said we would make Knacki…”. The little girl has also made extras in a few TV movies and played the role of Rose in the feature film I hate other people’s children released in 2007. Marie-Elisabeth is now 22 years old and an art history student.
5. The girl from the Lactel ad
In 1995 (lots of hit ads that year), Lactel aired a TV spot where a man asked his daughter why her report card was so bad. The child diverts his father’s attention by talking about Lactel’s new innovation, which offers ready-made baby bottles. The little girl in question is called Marie Sambourg and is now a recognized actress. She has acted in around twenty plays, five feature films, television series such as A great family and is the dubbing voice for many movie and cartoon characters.
6. The boy who accuses his fish of eating the ChocoSui’s
In 1995, Ayrton Mongénie played in a Nestlé pub and no one forgot his face or his famous line “You push the cork a little too far Maurice! “. The public appreciated the commercial so much that Nestlé called the child back to shoot two more commercials and Ayrton Mongénie became at the time the highest paid child in Europe for a commercial with a contract of 60,000 euros. He was only four years old then. In the years that followed, the child received dozens of proposals for feature films but nothing interested him. He plays a few roles in TV movies and accepts a contract for the short film Boomer with Gilles Lelouch, Laurent Laffite and Marion Cotillard. He then tires very quickly of the world of cinema and television and decides to stop everything. Today, he hates chocolate and mousse since that first day of filming when he had to eat dozens of them in a few hours (true story).
7. The Boy Who Finds Herta Dough Too Hot
In 2002, Maxence Seva played in a Herta pub for pie dough. Another child gives him a taste of the pie and Maxence responds with a full mouth with a now cult reply: “It’s good but it’s hot”. The child actor then played in a dozen successful television films as well as in several television series such as A great family and Navaro. From 2016, he became known with the feature film lucky kids.
8. The child under shrooms who played Kazoo
In France, the video of children playing Kazoo became cult during the Vine era. This American video, “You on Kazoo”, is in fact an advertisement released in 1989 for an object half toy half musical instrument: the Kazoo. The super weird little boy who talks to the camera is called Brett Ambler and is now an actor and a musician.
9. The baby from the cover of Nevermind (Nirvana)
Spencer Elden is only a baby when he is selected to illustrate the cover of a now cult album: nevermind of Nirvana. Spencer is now 30 and has gotten into the habit of snapping a photo of himself with the album almost every year. He also recreated the image in the swimming pool years later (but with a swimsuit), before filing a complaint against Nirvana for use of child pornography.
10. The boy from the covers of BOY and WAR (U2)
Peter Rowen is the younger brother of Virgin Prunes guitarist Dick Rowen. In 1980, he agreed to pose for the cover of the album BOY by the group U2 when he was already on that of their single THREE. Three years later, he is again the star on the cover of their album WAR with a more sour attitude, a disheveled cut and a cut at the level of the lip. The group loved the idea of keeping the same child at different ages. Today, Peter Rowen is a professional photographer and still lives in Dublin, Ireland.