A cool celebrity association: Pacino chooses Aussie coffee campaign as first ever endorsement . .

IN a credible coup for an Australian company, screen legend and Oscar-award winning actor Al Pacino has just shot a print and television advertising campaign for the Australian pure coffee brand, Vittoria.
As the first ever product endorsement in his career, the television campaign is being directed by Academy Award Winner Barry Levinson, best-known for films such as Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam, Wag the Dog and Sleepers.
The campaign, which was shot in and around Cafe Dante in Greenwich Vilage on Friday, is being produced by RSA, the production company owned by Ridley Scott.
Celebrity photographer Brigitte Lacombe, whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine who has photographed the likes of Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama and Bob Dylan shot the print campaign.
"We’re incredibly proud and honoured that Al Pacino has agreed to star in a commercial for Vittoria. What’s even more incredible is this is the first time the star of Godfather, Scent of a Woman and Scarface has agreed to endorse a product,'' said Les Schirato, CEO of Vittoria Coffee.
"The fact that Pacino is from an Italian migrant background – just like our family – makes him feel like a true ambassador for our brand.”
All the 'creative', from the television script to the print advertisements – has been developed in-house at Vittoria.
The advertisements were filmed in New York City on Friday and will air in Australia in July, 2010.
“We’ve been roasting coffee for over fifty years and have become the biggest pure coffee company in Australia. We sell the equivalent of 1.6 million cups of coffee a day. We wanted to celebrate this success by working with some of the most successful artists in the world to create our campaign.''
Levinson joined the project at the suggestion of Pacino, who recently worked with the director on the television drama You Don’t Know Jack, which recently aired in the United States.
“We are proud that as an Australian business, Vittoria coffee has been able to secure one of the world’s leading stars to endorse our brand. We compete against the world’s largest food companies and are still Australia’s no 1 in the pure coffee market.” says Les Schirato.
Entertainment news reports are also suggesting that Mr Pacino is the first pick of director, Martin Scorcese, to possibly play singer Frank Sinatra in a new biopic. Talk is Mr Scorcese wants Robert De Niro to play fellow Rat Pack pal, Dean Martin.

pic from askmen.com