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Ahhh, BJ Novak – the actor behind Ryan Howard on NBC's Peacock cash cow beloved sitcom, The Office, Mindy Kaling's BFF, and unwitting international spokesman? Yep, it seems that when Novak isn't busy writing satirical essays on gag gifts for his alma mater, following in Jordan Peele's footsteps and sliding down the comedy-to-horror pipeline with his upcoming flick, Vengeance, or, well, regularly sparking the rumor mill on a certain Instagram gossip page (that contrary to popular belief is not a credible source) the star has made a fruitful career for himself … as the incidental face of several global products. From peddling ponchos throughout Europe, flogging face paint in Uruguay, and enticing consumers to buy electric razors in China, Novak's mug has become inexplicably synonymous with a variety of goods on the global market, a mix up he recently addressed on social media.
“Years ago someone mistakenly put an image of me on a public domain site, and now apparently I am on products all around the world,” he explained on an Instagram story shared earlier this week, sandwiched between posts of himself appearing on several of the aforementioned goods. Although the images may be gaining traction as of lately, getting their own archive section on his Instagram page and sparking articles from publications including the New York Timesand CNN, this is no new phenomenon – Novak has apparently known about the usage of his image for nearly eight years.
“I am #blessed to announce the launch of my fragrance, available now in a Swedish department store,” he wrote in an Instagram post dating back to 2014, depicting several boxes of Calvin Klein's Encounter cologne featuring his smoldering pout.
Considering his celebrity status, it seems as if these products would be a lawsuit waiting to happen, however, the comedian apparently has a sense of humor surrounding the fiasco (who could have possibly imagined!) evidently finding it just as entertaining as the rest of us non-former cast members of The Office. “I am too amused to do anything about it,” he continued in the social media post, which has since been archived under a highlight entitled ”Modeling."
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Carly Tennes
