Paris-based art director David Redon has built a striking body of work by inserting today’s biggest music and entertainment stars into vintage American advertisements. The results are sharp, funny, and layered with cultural meaning. Each piece pairs a classic ad with a celebrity in a way that feels almost too perfect — like it was always meant to exist.
Daft Punk, the Grammy-winning French electronic duo known for their robot helmets, appear in a vintage casino poster styled around their hit song “Get Lucky.” Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, becomes the face of a retro mosquito spray ad with the tagline “Beat It!” — a direct nod to one of his most iconic tracks. These aren’t random pairings. Every choice is deliberate.
Rihanna and Drake appear together in a retro beauty ad titled “Take Care,” referencing their collaborative hit of the same name. Amy Winehouse fronts a “Back to Black” coffee advertisement. Pharrell Williams, whose song “Happy” became a global anthem, lights up a vintage toothpaste ad with that very word as the brand name.
Redon explained his thinking to Adweek: “I like the shift between vintage and modern pop culture because these days, the border between art and commercial is very small, and artists work their images like brands do.” That observation sits at the heart of the project. Modern celebrities manage their public personas with the same precision that corporations use to sell products.
Each piece takes Redon one to two hours to complete. His process involves selecting a vintage ad that fits the celebrity, retouching the image to place them in it, and sometimes redesigning the logo or layout entirely. The technical work is meticulous, but the conceptual work — finding the right match — is what makes each ad land.
The vintage ads Redon selects carry the visual language of mid-century American consumerism — bold colors, clean layouts, and confident slogans. Dropping a 21st-century pop star into that world creates an instant tension that makes viewers look twice.
Redon’s work is a direct commentary on how little has changed between then and now. Whether it’s a soap brand from the 1950s or a pop star’s album rollout in 2015, the mechanics of image-making and audience persuasion are nearly identical.
