Top 10 Celebs Who Did Fast Food Commercials Before They Were Famous

Megan Mullally and John Goodman appeared in an early ‘80s McDonald’s commercial before either of them were anywhere close to famous. In fact, it was one of the first few gigs for either actor, who would both go on to fame and fortune. Although, with all that being said we have to admit that the best part of the commercial has got to be that awesome Egg McMuffin jingle. And it also left us totally jealous of our 1983 counterparts who could grab an Egg McMuffin sandwich for only 99 cents.

Unlike most actors who have done fast food commercials, Green actually found some level of fame because of one. In the early 90s, he appeared in a series of Rally's "Cha Ching" commercials that were so popular New Orleans gave him the key to the city. However, that wasn’t the first time he had tried to sell us burgers. In fact, back in the ‘80s, a very young, bespectacled Seth Green appeared at the end of a Burger King commercial hyping the bacon double cheeseburger. And yes, we are hungry for Burger King now.

Long before he and the fellowship set out to save the world, Elijah Wood was saving us all from the hunger caused by a summer barbecue gone wrong. Wood plays the young child in this Pizza Hut commercial that sees dad’s embarrassing BBQ skills lead to the family having to order a pizza. But not just any pizza. We’re talking about a double cheeseburger pizza from the Hut! Yes, Seth Green’s bacon double cheeseburger looked good, but after watching this commercial, we’re craving a double cheeseburger pizza - which we don’t think Pizza Hut even makes anymore. What about the bacon though, you ask? Well, as you might have noticed at the end of the ad, you can add some for just a dollar!

In 1982, Meg Ryan was still seven years away from having lunch with Billy Crystal at Katz's Delicatessen and beginning her journey as the rom-com “it” girl of the 1990s, when she flashed that winning smile for Burger King. Ryan’s bubbly personality was in full bloom in this commercial, as she told us all about the “Aren’t You Hungry for a Whopper?” game. This game could win us everything from a free Whopper up to $1 million dollars. Well, maybe not everything. We’re pretty sure they weren’t giving away pecan pies.

We all know the horror of getting a hamburger and having the lettuce and tomato all hot and soggy from sitting on the cooked beef patty. Well, in the ‘80s, this warm toppings thing was an actual problem that McDonald’s solved with the McDLT. Although the environmental problems it caused with its styrofoam packaging led to its removal from the menu in the 90s. However, before people were screaming at McDonald’s to stop destroying the planet in order to keep lettuce cool, a then-unknown Jason Alexander was singing the burger's praises in this commercial from the mid-’80s.

We’ve watched this Jodie Foster McDonald’s commercial a few times now and we gotta say it might just be the creepiest thing she ever appeared in. And yes, that includes “The Silence of the Lambs.” The premise of this ad from the early 70s is that Evil Grimace has stolen all of the cups in McDonaldland and now Foster can’t have any milkshakes. To get them back, Ronald McDonald comes up with a plan involving the 4-armed Grimace and a fake beauty contest. We’re not saying 1970s Grimace is a bad person, but we wouldn’t be surprised if he liked his milkshakes with fava beans and a nice chianti.

We wonder if Gellar and Seth Green ever spent time on the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” set reminiscing about their time as young kids in Burger King commercials. If they did, we wonder if Green was maybe just a little jealous that he only got to be in the final seconds of his commercial while Sarah Michelle was the star of hers. However, due to some badmouthing of McDonald’s in one of the ads, the rival fast food chain and little Gellar herself soon became the subjects of a lawsuit… That aside, in the ‘80s, a young Geller told TV viewers why she goes to Burger King. [We suppose the fact that she was also subsequently banned from McD’s didn’t leave her much choice!]

The great Michael J. Fox did a number of commercials after he got famous. From Pepsi to Lays, Fox hyped a number of products after “Family Ties” and the “Back to the Future” franchise rocketed him to stardom. But this early ‘80s McDonald’s commercial came before all of that, back when he was just a sweet teenage boy trying to get a goodnight kiss from a cute girl at the end of the night. In the end, he gets a kiss on the cheek and the French fries. It was a simpler time back then.

In this 1989 Burger King commercial, a woman with a sexy voice tries to call Burger King, but gets Ben Affleck’s car phone instead. She asks him to deliver her a chef salad and he agrees. Does any of this make any sense? Not really, but it does give Affleck a chance to flash that cute bro grin and remind people of the late ‘80s that Burger King has salads. All that was missing was Affleck going up to a guy who previously tried to pick up the woman and asking him [“how you like ‘em apples.”] because he just got her address. And yes, we know that was Matt Damon, but it was too good to pass up.

Steve Carrell made his movie debut in 1991’s “Curly Sue.” But that wasn’t his first time on screen. Two years prior to that, in 1989, he was seen on TV touting the new cholesterol-free cooking they were doing at Brown’s Chicken. A cholesterol-free batter: how awesome is that? No seriously, we’re asking. How awesome is that? Oh, and for those of you wondering what the heck is Brown’s Chicken: it’s a fried chicken chain whose first location was in Bridgeview, Illinois. It then expanded nationwide, but as of 2005, its locations have since been limited to the metropolitan area of Chicago. That’s what she said!