• by Todd Wasserman , June 15, 2023

Idris Elba in scene from "Hijack," on Apple TV+.

In the old days, after actors had achieved some success, they tended to opt for directing instead.

These days, at least some are launching their own marketing agencies. In addition to the ubiquitous Ryan Reynolds, who debuted agency Maximum Effort in 2018, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Tony Hawke and Pitbull have also done so.

The latest actor to try his hand at advertising is Idris Elba, who has launched SillyFace with Marc Boyan, who owns the independent media group Miroma.

Elba told The Financial Times there needs to be “honest conversation . . . consumers are so smart, now, they can smell the bullshit, they want to be sort of treated with integrity, they want to be represented. It’s hard for brands to navigate.”

SillyFace doesn’t yet have a list of clients.

The most successful celeb-run agency, Maximum Effort, does work for Reynolds’ Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile. One Mint Mobile ad featured reclusive actor Rick Moranis, while another riffed on the death of character Mr. Big in the “Sex and the City” revival “And Just Like That…”

It’s unclear whether Seven Bucks, founded by Johnson, is still operating. The company’s website appears static, and the last Facebook update it posted was in 2019.