Anderson starred in and directed an American Express “My Life, My Card” commercial, which chronicled the “filming” of an action movie starring Jason Schwartzman. Anderson acts as if he is being interviewed by someone from American Express for the ad, while walking around completing tasks on set, a scene paying homage to the movie “Day for Night” by Francois Truffaut. It was aired on television and in movie theaters in both a short and extended version, during and shortly after the theatrical 2004 release of “The Life Aquatic: with Steve Zissou”.
In 2008, Wes Anderson teamed up with Brad Pitt for a commercial for Japanese cell phones. The commercial takes inspiration from Jacques Tati’s Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot. Anderson filmed Pitt in one continuous shot at a French seaside town.