Jack is wanted for more than just his CTU skills...

GAYLE MACDONALD

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Like his father Donald, Kiefer Sutherland's dulcet tones are clearly in big demand.

Turn on the TV, and the star of Fox's hit espionage show 24 -- known to a legion of fans as superagent Jack Bauer -- is also the soothing voice pitching the virtues of Ford's new Fusion car.

The next commercial break might feature Toronto-bred Sutherland again persuasively pleading the case for Apple's Intel-powered computer or Verizon telecommunications. And in Japan, he's been hired to expound on the Calorie Mate nutrition bar.

Tomorrow, Sutherland's voice makes its debut as Samson, the lion, in The Wild, Disney's $80-million (U.S.) animated feature about a madcap troupe of zoo animals let loose on the big city. The hard-living actor -- who's been known to bar-brawl with the best of them -- has a set of pipes that companies find irresistible. His personal life aside, he's a risk that marketing executives from here to Tokyo are willing to bet their brand on.

Just as they did on his talented and eccentric father, who over the years has been the deep, silky-smooth voice for Volvo, Bell Canada, Cigna insurance, Beamish Genuine Irish Stout and Halifax's The Chronicle Herald newspaper.

Why -- pray tell -- are companies falling over themselves to hire the Canadian father-son duo? Franca Piacente, director of broadcast at Toronto-based communications giant MacLaren McCann, figures it's because the pair have both been blessed with voices that wrap around you like a blanket.

"Kiefer's everywhere," Piacente agrees. "When you're selling a product, you always look for a voice that's distinctive because it adds credibility. He's that, he's likable and he sounds trustworthy."

The fact that father and son are homebred boys with deep Canadian roots also doesn't hurt -- especially for audiences here, who seem to have an emotional attachment to the Sutherland clan. Kiefer is the son of Donald and Shirley Douglas, a successful Canadian stage and film actress.

He's also the grandson of Canadian statesman and medicare creator Tommy Douglas, who was voted the Greatest Canadian by CBC voters two years ago.

"Emotion sells products," sums up John Smythe, president of Partners Film Co. Ltd. "Sutherland clearly has what they're looking for."

In another Ford Fusion ad, Sutherland is teamed up with his long-time buddy Wayne Gretzky (who gets the face time). Here Sutherland voices a hockey-themed script that suggests, "It's not about taking off the gloves. It's about taking off the blinders." You can practically taste patriotic fervour in his voice.

For the Apple/Intel Mac ads, he celebrates the fact that a downtrodden little guy has been set free: "The Intel chip. For years it's been trapped inside PCs. Inside dull little boxes. Dutifully performing dull little tasks when it could have been doing so much more. . . . Starting today, the Intel chip will be set free and get to live life inside a Mac. Imagine the possibilities."

In Disney's The Wild -- made by Toronto special-effects and animation house CORE -- Sutherland is, again, the leader, proud father and hero of the day. And other famous Canadians join voices with his, namely Coach's Corner's Don Cherry as a fast-talking penguin MC (minus the bad suits) and William Shatner, who plays a fanatic leader of a cult of wildebeests.

Just this week, Sutherland -- who went to Toronto's Martingrove Collegiate Institute for high school -- signed a $40-million (U.S.) deal with Twentieth Century Fox to keep playing order-barking Bauer for another three years. With 24 now in its fifth season, Sutherland's popularity as a "voice you can trust" is not dimming.

But as Piacente dryly points out, "he's probably going to be a little more expensive now."

THE SOUND OF SUTHERLAND

Blessed with voices you don't want to mess with, Donald and Kiefer Sutherland have companies lining up to get them signed on as their product-pitching voice men. Here's a sample of some of their behind-the-scenes work:

Donald:

Volvo cars
Cigna insurance
"Simply Orange" juice
Barclays Bank
Radio commercials for Beamish Genuine Irish Stout and
Halifax's The Chronicle Herald newspaper

Kiefer:

Calorie Mate
24: The Game PlayStation 2
Verizon Business
Apple/Intel ads
Ford Fusion (Canada)
Miller Genuine Draft
The Los Angeles
Mentoring Partnership


There is a good article on Kiefer Sutherland in Rolling Stone