Heavens ... unless Lost in Showbiz is mistaken, it's Suntory time yet again in the world of Eva Longoria. Of course, it's always heartwarming to see a Hollywood star selling out to endorse a product not available in the US. But there's something particularly special about the moment they stop hiding it away in countries where their series has to be dubbed. So let's show our support for the versatile Ms Longoria, who inhabits a high-paying ad campaign every bit as convincingly as she inhabits the role of Gabrielle Solis.
In a move sure to send up her Desperate Housewives character's easy-virtued materialism, Eva has just accepted a huge fee to bring her lips suggestively towards the new Magnum ice cream - to fauxllate it, if you will - on billboards and screens across the UK.
"I'm happy to represent Magnum," she told reporters in Cannes this week, "as I believe in indulgence and sensuality." A perfect fit, then. But is there more? Yes, I rather think there is. "Plus I have a passion for chocolate," she goes on, "so being part of this campaign is really fun for me."
Aha. With that humble "being part of", Eva reminds us that far from being a star vehicle, the frozen dessert's latest commercial push is really an ensemble piece.
Our heroine may be the diffident frontwoman, but it's great to hear her tacitly acknowledge the on-set armies of unseen, muscle-tongued assistants, who perform the invaluable task of fluffing the Magnums to the brink of their sensual, indulgent peak, before they are presented to Eva for that all-important money shot.
