Czech consumers are exposed to around 700 adverts every day but remember only a fraction of them. This presents brands with an enormous challenge. How can they ensure that consumers remember their product? There are many possible approaches, and one of the most effective, although certainly not the cheapest, is well worth the investment. According to research conducted by ReSOLUTION Group in collaboration with the Nielsen Admosphere research agency and the Czech National Panel, actors are among the public’s favourite brand ambassadors. And this is by no means a recent phenomenon. Actors and actresses are simply in a league of their own, and many are only too happy to put their talents at the service of advertising.
Until recently, Ivan Trojan reigned supreme among Czech actors in advertising. Last year, however, after five years at the top, he was deposed by Hynek Čermák, the face of Staropramen. Who knows which of these charismatic personalities will triumph in this year’s survey?
Ivan Trojan
Ivan Trojan is an extremely popular actor and one of the most distinctive personalities on the Czech acting scene. Although he fell to 35th place in last year’s advertising survey, this in no way detracts from his distinctive delivery, sense of perspective or humour, and audiences continue to enjoy his adverts. Following his successful collaboration with T-Mobile, including the memorable commercial Don’t Keep Your Feet on the Ground – Runway Duel, a series of amusing adverts for České dráhy followed in 2021 and won the hearts of Czech viewers.
Video: České dráhy – Travelling for Culture or Hiking?
However, viewers were less enthusiastic about the České dráhy advert A Pancake, a Fritter, and a Cappuccino to Finish!, in which Ivan Trojan transforms into a humanoid robot. While 69% of respondents described the older České dráhy television adverts featuring Ivan Trojan as an ordinary passenger as entertaining, the newer “robotic” version received 63%.
Hynek Čermák
Hynek Čermák is best known in advertising as the face of Staropramen, although it is not the only brand with which he has worked. For Tipsport, for example, he helped “hunt down” talented IT professionals, albeit in a somewhat uncompromising manner. The commercial The Hunt for Talent Has Begun! even won the 2016 Recruitment Video of the Year award at the Recruitment Academy Awards. Čermák also appeared in an Innogy advert alongside other stars, including Lukáš Pavlásek, Bolek Polívka and Miroslav Donutil, whom he helped change a light bulb. Staropramen, however, naturally remains the brand closest to his heart:
Video: Staropramen – A Love of Beer
The duo Tomáš Měcháček and Tomáš Jeřábek
Tomáš Měcháček has appeared in numerous notable Czech productions, from films such as Protector and Milada to a wide variety of television series and several fairy tales. He has also worked as a presenter. For many years, he has entertained audiences in commercials for Air Bank. He is ably supported by another popular actor, Tomáš Jeřábek, whose many film and television roles include a memorable performance as Pepa in the series Volga. The role of the villainous banker in Air Bank’s television adverts also fits him perfectly:
Video: AirBank – Fees
Ondřej Vetchý
Ondřej Vetchý has a fairly extensive advertising history, although it is not characterised by a large number of appearances or frequent changes of brand. Rather than featuring in adverts built around flamboyant humour or exaggeration, he has tended to appear in campaigns based on authenticity, humanity and trust. Nevertheless, in 2019 he filmed several creative and amusing commercials for České dráhy that proved extremely popular with viewers. This is one example:
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That same year, he also appeared in an emotional advert for Vodafone. In 2023, he became the face of a new Škoda Auto campaign focusing on electric mobility.
Vojtěch Kotek
Vojta Kotek has also recently joined the ranks of advertising veterans. He previously appeared in advertising for brands including T-Mobile, while in recent years television audiences have been greatly entertained by a series of Bauhaus commercials featuring the actor. In the latest Bauhaus commercial, which he also directed, Kotek even dressed up as Ferda the Ant, while his wife Eliška appeared as Ladybird and shop assistant Zdeněk Charvát played Pytlík the Beetle:
Video: Bauhaus – All Kinds of Work
Martin Hofmann
Mention “Martin Hofmann” and everyone immediately thinks of the popular comedy series Most!. Many viewers will also think of Vodafone, a brand represented by this outstanding actor. He certainly put his comic talents to good use in this 2021 advert:
Video: Vodafone 2021
He went on to make numerous commercials for Vodafone, each infused with the gently ironic humour that Czech audiences love so much.
Karel Roden
Unlike his colleagues, this charismatic actor, one of the few Czech performers to have established himself in major international films, has not appeared systematically in television advertising and has never served as the long-term face of a brand. Nevertheless, Karel Roden has occasionally appeared in adverts, including as a suitably tough character in a campaign for Fernet Stock:
Video: Fernet Stock – Karel Roden
Sagvan Tofi
Actor and singer Sagvan Tofi, a long-standing heart-throb, also has experience of advertising Fernet. In a 2007 commercial, he is caught in the rain and takes refuge in the nearest pub, where he finds the perfect “friend for a rainy day”: Berentzen Fernet Premium.
Video: Berentzen Fernet Premium – Sagvan Tofi
Jakub Kohák
Jakub Kohák is one of the most distinctive personalities on the Czech acting scene. His comic style, ability to harness awkwardness and talent for disrupting everyday reality make him ideally suited to striking, memorable commercials. Unlike most other actors, who bring authority or an understated, natural delivery to advertising, Kohák is a deliberately exaggerated comic figure. He overacts knowingly, deploys heavy irony and keeps audiences thoroughly entertained. The most important chapter in his advertising career is his long-standing collaboration with T-Mobile. Thanks to his absurd humour, exaggerated reactions and situational gags, Jakub Kohák became one of the brand’s most recognisable faces. Some viewers loved the commercials featuring Kohák, while others condemned them. Either way, they were impossible to ignore, and that is the point of advertising.
Video: T-Mobil: Ski Jumpers After the Season: Farewell
Humour, albeit of a considerably gentler and more endearing kind, was also central to a campaign for the mobile operator Mobil.cz. Playing a father, Kohák tries to keep up with the younger generation, although he is not particularly successful…
Video: Mobil.cz – Free Data for a New Era
Mobile operators are not the only brands to have turned to Kohák. Fio banka, for example, also cast him in one of its campaigns. In the bank’s commercial, the actor goes shopping with a payment card and a goat called Vlasta.
Marek Vašut
This charismatic actor, known among other things for playing Pažout in the film adaptation of Michal Viewegh’s From Subway with Love, has also appeared in a fair number of adverts. In addition to promoting Douwe Egberts coffee in the 1990s, he lent his distinctive style to campaigns for men’s health products and shopping at Lidl. He also appeared in a weight-loss advert and promoted an Angry Beards deodorant. He has even ventured into the property sector, lending his support to Reality Kostarika:
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Petr Štěpánek
Even Petr Štěpánek, whom viewers in recent years know primarily from the television series Ordinace v růžové zahradě, has not turned down the opportunity to appear in advertising. As the face of BANDI men’s suits, he positively radiates elegance.
Video: Bandi Men’s Suits – Going to a Ball?
Charisma, humour and authority
Czech television advertising often relies on strong acting personalities. The reason is highly pragmatic. In a relatively small market, where audiences encounter prominent cultural figures repeatedly and have already developed a relationship with them, actors provide the perfect shorthand for establishing trust, evoking emotion and communicating the character of a brand.
Continuity is another important factor. Many Czech actors do not appear in one-off commercials, but in long-running campaigns in which their roles gradually develop. This longevity strengthens memorability and creates the impression that the actor and the brand naturally “belong together”.
The actors differ in the archetypes they embody in advertising. Some serve as figures of authority and dependable support, while others rely on charisma or humour. Brands generally select them not simply based on popularity but according to which type of personality best reflects their values and tone of voice. The result is advertising that feels natural and remains effective over time, confirming that the right actor can be just as important to a brand as the creative idea itself.
Sources: focus-age.cz, simar.cz, kupi.cz, expres.cz