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Like Simu Liu, BJ Novak's stock photo has garnered a lot of attention recently. The Office star's face is seen on random packaging like a rain poncho from Los Angeles, an electric shaver, Swedish cologne, and face paint from Uruguay.
On Monday, October 25, BJ Novak shared a story on his Instagram explaining how his face ended up on random off-brand products. The 42-year-old actor mentioned that the ordeal started when one of his photos was uploaded to the public domain years ago. This allowed the image to be used freely without companies having to pay the actor or ask for his permission.
Novak said,
"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."
In a follow-up status story, he said,
"But I am too amused to do anything about it."
Here's how fans are responding to 'The Office' star BJ Novak's stock image
While multiple people drew comparisons with Simu Liu's stock photos, others found it hilarious to see BJ Novak's face being used to sell random personal products. A certain tweet also reminded everyone that the situation is ironic as BJ Novak's character Ryan Howard from The Office used his co-workers' photos to sell salsa and pesto.
BJ Novak's stock photo incident ironically mirroring 'The Office'
The actor's face being used to sell products is ironic because his character Ryan from the hit NBC show did the same thing to his co-workers Phyllis and Oscar. In the Garage Sale episode (Season 7, Episode 19), which aired on 24 March 2011, Ryan brings his mother's salsa and pesto to the Dunder Mifflin garage sale.
While the salsa carried a label with Oscar's face on it, the pesto label had Phyllis' face.
As the revelation about his stock photo went viral on the web, BJ Novak tweeted:
"I'm international."
Differences between Simu Liu and BJ Novak's hilarious stock photo stories
Shang-Chi star Simu Liu purposely did a stock photoshoot before his foray into acting, but BJ Novak's journey as a stock photo model was unintentional. While he was an accountant, Liu had been involved in the stock photoshoot back in 2014, which he apparently did for $100.
Compared to BJ Novak's stock photo, Liu's photoshoot resulted in multiple stock photos bearing his face, which have been used for advertising hundreds of services and products. The photos have especially gained popularity after he was cast as Shang-Chi in the MCU.
