Stephanie Hsu and Alice Lee for Discover Card

This currently airing 30-second spot for Discover Card has Stephanie Hsu as a Discover cardholder calling to ask a representative, played by Alice Lee, about her cashback bonus.

If one didn't know otherwise, one might assume that it's the same actress playing both roles in this commercial, as both ladies look very similar. Why did the producers of this ad hire two girls who look alike? Did they want viewers to think there are twins here like in that other Discover Card commercial (with Sinab and Meltem Gulturk)? Perhaps they wanted viewers to think it is the same girl in both roles because of Discover Card’s ad slogan; “At Discover, we treat you like you’d treat you.” Maybe Stephanie or Alice can say for sure. Stephanie's on Twitter and so is Alice.  Also see more of Stephanie at her official website. You may have also caught her playing a not-too-concerned babysitter in another recent commercial for Nest smoke alarms. It’s wrong, but funny.

Elizabeth Di Prinzio & Angela Fong for Boost Mobile

The above TV commercial that ran earlier this year for Boost Mobile, features Los Angeles-based actress and model Elizabeth Di Prinzio, as a girl getting her purse “snatched” by a do-gooding motorcycle passenger in the form of model and former BC Lions (of the CFL) cheerleader, Angela Fong.

You can see more of Elizabeth at her official website and she's on Twitter. See more of Angela, who's also a former WWE Diva, and may be better-know by wrestling fans by her ring name, Savannah, at her Facebook fan page, and she's also on Twitter.

Jasi Lanier for Heinz Ketchup

Top Hollywood stuntwoman Jasi Lanier was one of the "James Girls" featured in this article last month. She commented that she's a real tomboy but photographer Mike James helps her get in touch with her "girly side" during her photo shoots with him. In the above 2007 commercial Jasi did for Heinz ketchup, she shows that tomboy side as she deals with an interruption that doesn't often occur while waiting for ketchup to emerge from the bottle. However, I suppose since Heinz ketchup is so thick and rich, it takes much longer for it to come out than it does for other brands, so anything can happen during that wait.

Ursula Taherian for Shiny Suds

Despite the title of this piece, the above 2009 commercial featuring actress Ursula Taherian is not for Shiny Suds bathroom cleaner. Shiny Suds doesn’t even exist. This is a faux commercial-within-a-commercial for Method’s safe and environmentally-friendly cleaning products. The fictitious Shiny Suds and its wonderfully-perverted bubbles are to illustrate Method’s message regarding the “dirty” and “dangerous” chemicals most household cleaning products contain and leave behind.

This ad was banned by many TV stations due to complaints over you-know-what by mainly you-know-whom and was eventually pulled by Method for the same reason. To see more of Ursula (but not as much as the bubbles saw ….especially right after she dropped the loofa at the end), check out her official website.

Ploy Nyam for Headmuns Security Pants

This Thai commercial for Headmuns Security Pants has pretty Miss Ploy Nyam speaking of the dangers that concern many of today’s young women living in Thailand’s urban areas. However, she need not worry any longer, because Headmuns now offers a defense designed to ward off potential attacks, while also providing protection for the wearer’s “lady parts.” These security pants are guaranteed to thwart any would-be assailants by presenting them with something they didn’t expect to find their intended victim to be packing. Then again ….since it is Thailand ….maybe it’s exactly what some would-be assailants would be expecting to find a young lady packing.

The song that accompanies this spot is “Lovely” by Audrianna Cole, and pleasantly offsets Miss Nyam’s monologue, which one viewer described as sounding like “a cat that’s fallen into a wood chipper.”

Ysabel Young for Doritos

On this Super Bowl Sunday, here's a commercial produced by Last Doorway Productions' Reyna Young for Doritos' 2011-2012 "Crash the Super Bowl" ad contest. According to Reyna, who shot the commercial in Pacifica, California; "there were quite a bit of zombie-themed entries, but every time I checked, it looked like ours had the most hits, which was cool."

Honey Lee for Dulcolax

A familiar face on a recent commercial that aired on American television during the CBS evening News, caused me to do a double-take. The face was that of former Miss Korea Honey Lee, who’s featured in the above Korean-produced commercial for the laxative Dulcolax, that’s currently airing on network TV in the United States. 

Reportedly, the commercial has been airing in Korea since February and Dulcolax made the decision to start airing it in the US, after a consumer survey yielded positive feedback, which isn’t hard to see why. Since her pageant days, the 2006 Miss Korea and 2007 Miss Universe third runner-up, has established herself as fairly prominent TV, stage, and screen actress in Korea. Here name in Korean is 이하늬 and Google is our friend.

Erin Tjoe in "Too Good to Waste"

The above video still is from a recent ad for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's water conservation campaign. It may give the impression that actress Erin Tjoe is going to be ill, but in fact, she's portraying a consumer who's made aware of the value of saving water. The 30-second spot is one of a series of ads being put out by the SFPUC, that feature Erin.

Soo Yeon Lee for Target

This recent Target commercial for Nature Made prenatal vitamins is entitled "Ravenous" and features actress, model, and world class table tennis player, Soo Yeon Lee, portraying a pregnant lady who's in a frenzy to satisfy her hunger cravings ....or just to make a mess in her kitchen. Said Soo Yeon (who was not actually pregnant here) of this role: "It was good practice to be a pregnant woman." See more of her at her official website.

Little Red Riding Hood, Erin Tjoe

I don’t know why the ad department at Motorola cast an Asian girl as Little Red Riding Hood for their new Droid RAZR M commercial, but Erin Tjoe makes a great one as she shows how she uses hers to avoid the Big Bad Wolf. See more of Erin (who posted this video at her Youtube channel) at her Facebook and on Twitter.

Emily Chang for Ruffles Ultimate

This 30-second spot featuring actress Emily Chang (not to be confused with the journalist or web designer of the same name) as a quick-to-catch-on poker player, has been running on network TV in the US for the last several months. Emily is no newcomer to acting with many credits and a New York regional Emmy Award under her belt, but this commercial seems to be on its way to achieving a sort of cult status and becoming what she's best-known for. So far, anyway. Catch Emily on Twitter.

Harisu for Dodo Cosmetics

As a filler piece, here's the 2001 Dodo cosmetics TV commercial that gave Korean transgender model, singer, and actress Harisu her big break. Her name was taken from the English words "hot issue" and she sure was after this 30-second spot cast her in the Korean public eye. She went on to become, and still remains, a household name in Korea and even a few other parts of Asia. The Korean text that appears on the screen at 0:25 reads "downright lie."

Korean Female Celebs' "Lasts"

As sort of a long belated follow-up to this piece, here are a selection of "lasts" from a few of the Korean female entertainers who took their own lives within the last several years. The above ad for Enprani cosmetics, was the late Lee Eun-ju's last ever TV commercial. Upon news of her suicide, the company immediately stopped running this and print ads featuring her. Enprani cited it was out of respect for her family, but I'm sure it was also because having an actress who committed suicide while she was still under contract with them, as the face of their company, would have been terrible for their public image. The following month, Enprani signed then-little-known actress Park Si-yeon as their new spokesmodel.

Robin and Leslie for Hanes

Ever hear the expression "don't get your panties in a bunch"? Well, apparently that's what happened to Robin (actress and musician Gwendoline Yeo) during this recent segment of the fictional talk show What's Up? with Robin and Leslie. Oh, "Leslie" is Arden Myrin, best known for her stint on Mad TV.

Satomi, Risa, and Marina for Wrist Cutter G

Here are the late gravure idols Satomi Shigemori, Risa Inoue, and Marina Kanda (RIP) advertising "Wrist Cutter G," which became the hottest cutter for Japanese students belonging to extracurricular wrist-cutting clubs, soon after this spot aired in early 2008.

Unfortunately, the promotional events that were scheduled to follow the national release of this commercial never happened due to the girls' untimely deaths ....which was proof that they actually believed in and used the product they so enthusiastically endorsed.

Gemma Chan for Bing

Unless you've been living without television for the past year and a half, you're familiar with the Bing commercials where the person rattles off the results he or she found after performing an Internet search, in a robot-like manner. The lovely Asian lady with the British accent doing so in the above ad is actress Gemma Chan and whether you use Bing, Google, or one of the other popular search engines, finding her website isn't difficult.

Ann Nanba for LV Vodka

This Taiwanese LV vodka cocktail commercial from a few years back features now-retired Japanese AV actress Ann Nanba. There are two versions of this ad and this is the uncensored one. The line spoken at the end is, "I know what you're thinking!"

Current info about Ann (also spelled "An") and what she's doing these days, would most likely be found at Japanese game sites and blogs since she's known as an avid gamer. Material from her AV career can easily be found all over the net ...and maybe in the comments below.

2 Girls 1 Sub

A parody of the infamous 2 Girls 1 Cup video (Google it if you don't know about that gem), Quiznos' recent commercial features June 2004 Playboy Playmate Hiromi Oshima and model Kari Nautique. The commercial was produced solely by Playboy (Quiznos said they did not have a hand in it) and the catch phrase is Hiromi and Kari "show you what a HOT sandwich tastes like."

Seo Woo for Lotte Ice Cream

Cute newcomer Seo Woo could easily be taken for being Japanese here in this commercial for Lotte ice cream. The 162cm, 20-year-old actress is fun to watch, but when it comes to dancing, she's no Jeon Ji-hyun.

Kim Tae-hee vs. Soy

Popular Korean actress Kim Tae-hee outdoes singer/not-quite-as-popular actress Soy (Kim So-yeon) in a small face challenge in this TV ad for Corn Silk Tea. (Yes, a small face is considered a standard of beauty to many in Korea.)