Omega Wants You! Pays George Clooney To Look Goofy For The Cause

What times we live in. Who would have ever thought to see a celebrity endorse a watch company's recruiting efforts. Sure we are all used to celebrities modeling watches, even attending watch public relations events. I even wrote about watch companies like Audemars Piguet making watches for US presidents, who then plug the brand (for charity).

Well new ground has been broken, and I would pay good money to learn the buttering up process involved in getting George Clooney to adorn a watch maker's monocle (called a loupe) and lab coat for this photo shoot. Good thing Clooney looks perplexed in this shot, because while I am sure he owns a few Omega watches, he has never had any experience making them or working on them. Imagine the cajoling required to get him to wear this outfit. "Great shots of the De Ville Mr. Clooney, now put this on your face like so... and wear this coat. Lets try it again. Aren't WE looking technical Mr. Clooney?"

The who purpose of this advertisement is to get people excited about the "wide wonderful world of watchmaking." Not because Omega makes money on watch maker schools, but because world demand for high quality watches is at an all-time high, and the pool of skilled watch makers (or any watch makers for that matter) is low. In fact, the ad here is looking for people who are already trained and have experience. Because there is such high demand for watch makers, companies (and in this case the Swatch Group that owns Omega) are looking to attract more laborers. The reason has to do with production limitations. High quality watches need skilled technicians to build and service. Robots cannot do this work, and watch companies want to build as many as they can sell. Have you considered a career in watch making?

Actually, new watch making schools are popping up all the time due to this increasing need. There are even some US based schools. Most however are located in Europe and I am sure parts of Asia. School programs are generally intensive, but because the market is rich right now, it is an attractive prospect for those interested in the field. The most talented watch makers often start are large companies, and often end up making their own watches, and own brands. A pretty nice, and attainable goal. All in all, this is actually a pretty sober advertisement given some of the things American actors are know for advertising in Japan. But you can go to YouTube for further examples.

See Omega watches on eBay here.

See Omega watches on Amazon here.