Sharon Stone has become the latest in a line of Hollywood stars to feature in an Italian commercial, this time to promote the country's new virtual bank, Banca 121.
The first spot in the campaign features Ms Stone being pursued by paparazzi and then finally throwing them off, with the help of a manager from Banca 121. The second hinges on a basketball theme, while print work running at the same time will feature Ms Stone as a stock trader using a PC to access all her accounts.
The campaign was devised by McCann-Erickson Worldwide, Milan. The TV work will air on the three networks owned by state broadcaster RAI and the
stations run by Mediaset, which is controlled by the billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi.
Ms Stone follows in the footsteps of numerous other US stars including Marlon Brando, Leonardo DiCaprio, Woody Allen and Harrison Ford who have all recently appeared in Italian advertising campaigns. Stone in fact sparked the trend herself, having starred in an Italian ad by Milan's Armando Testa to promote sparkling wines in 1996.
Banca 121 was created in June from the assets of Europe's oldest banking group. It specialises in personalised banking via the phone or Internet.
