Ben Stiller, already well-known for his work in film and television, has expanded his interests. He’s now entered the beverage market with his new drink line, called “Stiller’s Soda.”
The company’s website states that Stiller developed this product out of a genuine love for soda – something he’s always felt. This passion led him to create a line of healthy, bubbly drinks, drawing inspiration from traditional flavors and delivering a truly enjoyable experience. Essentially, if you want a soda that’s completely natural, low-calorie, and tastes just like the real thing… that’s what we offer!Learn moreIt’s delicious!
At launch there are three Stiller’s Soda flavors: Lemon Lime, Shirley Temple, and Root Beer.
Ben Stiller makes an appearance in the brand’s debut commercial, and it definitely stands out with its unique and playful sense of humor.
The nutrition label for Stiller’s Soda shows that each can has 30 calories and 7 grams of sugar – this is true for every flavor. It’s sweetened with organic cane sugar. The can itself proudly proclaims it’s “The World’s Refreshing-est Soda” and, similar to Stiller’s genuine acting, is made with “No Fake Stuff.”
It’s common for celebrities to appear in soda commercials. When I was growing up, I first learned about Ray Charles through his Diet Pepsi ads. (It was the right one, baby, uh huh.) However, creating your own drink brand is less typical. This puts Stiller in the company of stars like Paul Newman, whose Newman’s Own line includes coffees, teas, and various juice drinks. (Everyone remembers Paul Newman for two things: his strong, masculine image on screen, and his delicious Orange Mango Tango fruit juice cocktail.)
You can currently find Stiller’s Soda on Amazon, as well as in select stores around New York City. (If you’re in the Tri-State area, check their website for a store locator.) A 12-pack of Stiller’s Soda costs $29.99, and you can choose either 12 cans of your favorite single flavor, or a variety pack.
10 Times Suspiciously Similar Films Came Out at the Same Time
Dante’s Peak and Volcano (1997)
I have to say, when it comes to movies that people constantly mix up, Dante’s Peak and Volcano immediately spring to mind! Both came out in 1997, both were action-packed dramas about a city facing a volcanic eruption, and both featured huge stars at the time. Seriously, I’d bet good money that almost everyone has had a debate with a friend over what happens in each one.
Dante’s Peak, starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton, tells the story of a town threatened by a volcano waking up after being asleep for ages. It hit theaters just weeks before Volcano, which is the one where Tommy Lee Jones tries to save Los Angeles from being swallowed up by the La Brea Tar Pits. If you’re trying to remember which is which, Dante’s Peak has that unforgettable scene of a woman screaming as she walks through an acid lake, and Volcano famously promised that “THE COAST IS TOAST.” Hopefully, that helps clear things up!
Antz and A Bug’s Life (1998)
Two movies focusing on bugs helped launch animation studios into film history. One features Woody Allen as a worried ant in therapy. Both Antz and A Bug’s Life center on a humble male worker ant who tries to protect his ant colony from a serious threat-either a never-ending war with termites (in Antz) or enslavement by grasshoppers (in A Bug’s Life)-all while trying to win the heart of the ant princess. The plots are remarkably alike, and many believe this wasn’t accidental. The story is complex, but essentially, after a disagreement with Disney and starting DreamWorks, former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg allegedly decided to make an ant movie. DreamWorks’ first computer-animated film was scheduled for the same year as Pixar’s second, and the plots were very similar.
Armageddon and Deep Impact (1998)
Both of these films deserve praise for the fact that the only thing they really share is a comet headed for Earth (and that they were both released in the same year). One tells the unlikely, but feel-good, story of ordinary American workers who become astronauts to destroy the comet, while the other is more emotionally driven, with a sad ending that likely contributed to its lesser success. Deep Impact, featuring a series of unsuccessful attempts to stop the comet and emphasizing human connection amidst potential destruction, simply couldn’t match Armageddon’s enthusiastic display of masculine heroism and over-the-top special effects.
Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line (1998)
Though both films are set during World War II, boast impressive casts of leading actors from their time, and explore the war beyond typical combat, Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line are remarkably different. While Saving Private Ryan is a classic, engaging Hollywood film centered on a rescue mission during the liberation of France, The Thin Red Line is a deliberately paced, challenging cinematic experience, depicting the brutal invasion of Guadalcanal in the Pacific. It’s unusual to witness two filmmaking giants, Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick, tackle similar themes with such contrasting styles.
Run Lola Run and Sliding Doors (1998)
Although Sliding Doors is a romantic comedy/dramedy exploring the different directions a woman’s life could take based on whether or not she catches a train, its similar film, Run Lola Run, released the same year, is far more gripping. This German action movie feels like a video game, following a woman’s repeated attempts to get money to save her boyfriend, with each failed attempt restarting the scene after her death. While neither film is truly supernatural – despite both showing events from multiple timelines and hinting at the strangeness of what’s happening – they aren’t typical dramas either. Both films creatively examine a single story from various viewpoints, demonstrating how storytelling and cinematic experimentation can alter the outcome.
The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
Around the year 2000, there was widespread concern about technology. In everyday life, people feared the Y2K bug would ruin the global economy, as computers were essential for its operation. In films, the worry was that computers were becoming too powerful and could take control of our world. Most people are familiar with The Matrix, which tells the story of a man who learns that he and much of humanity are living in a computer simulation powered by their own bodies. However, The Thirteenth Floor, another movie exploring the idea of a simulated reality where people don’t realize they’re not real, has largely been forgotten. While only one of these films became a large franchise, both capture the feeling of unease that came with entering a new era.
Entrapment and The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
Released just months apart in the spring and summer of 1999, both Entrapment and The Thomas Crown Affair feature actors famous for playing James Bond as charming thieves. They find themselves battling attraction to the beautiful female insurance investigators trying to catch them. While these films didn’t launch a trend of movies focused on art thieves, they are great examples of the fun, stylish, and romantic action movies that studios largely stopped producing after 2000. One film includes Catherine Zeta-Jones doing somersaults through a room filled with lasers, while the other features a large group of people dressed as a René Magritte painting running through a museum. Movies like these are rare now – they just don’t make them like they used to.
The Illusionist and The Prestige (2006)
Around late 2006, it seemed like every movie studio was suddenly making films about magicians from the past. Released within two months of each other, Neil Burger’s The Illusionist and Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige are remarkably alike-you might think the directors copied each other-but The Illusionist is actually based on a short story by Stephen Millhauser, and The Prestige comes from Christopher Priest’s complex novel of the same name. While they share many similarities, they are distinct: The Illusionist centers on a magician who uses illusions to get revenge on a prince who killed the woman he loved, and The Prestige is a non-linear, intricate story about two competing magicians constantly trying to outdo each other.
Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached (2011)
Back in 2011, moviegoers faced a tough decision – which of two similar films did they prefer, and it felt like a big deal at the time! Choosing between Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached became a way to declare your allegiance. Both movies explored the same idea: a man and a woman start a casual relationship, trying to avoid falling in love. Interestingly, both films were originally titled Friends with Benefits. Paramount Pictures even tried to protest the competing movie, but director Ivan Reitman ultimately changed his film’s title to No Strings Attached to prevent viewers from getting confused.
The Double and Enemy (2013)
It’s strangely coincidental that two films featuring men encountering their exact look-alikes came out in the same year. While that’s pretty much where their similarities end, it’s still a bit eerie. Richard Ayoade’s The Double, adapted from a story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, stars Jesse Eisenberg as an unremarkable office worker who’s stunned when his boss hires a man who looks just like him – but is much more charismatic and accomplished. Enemy, directed by Denis Villeneuve, is based on the José Saramago novel The Double (it’s a different story than the one used for the first film!), and stars Jake Gyllenhaal as two identical-looking men who, like the characters in The Double, have very different personalities. Both films present a distorted version of reality, but The Double is a dark comedy, whereas Enemy is bleak and dreamlike.
