Back in 2016, the lead protagonist of the Metal Gear franchise appeared in commercials for the Ford Focus SE – one of the more unusual branding cross-overs of recent times, it's fair to say.
After we rather cheekily reported the commercials on social media, Snake voice actor David Hayter responded, explaining exactly how this particular advertising alliance came to be.
"I did a commercial for Ford as a VO Actor, and the Producers were big Snake fans," Hayter says on Twitter. "So they said, 'Hey, if we got permission from Konami to use Snake in an ad, would you do it?' 'Sure.' I said, certain it would never happen. Then it did. Then I was stuck."
Hayter will, for many fans, forever be associated with the character of Solid Snake and his direct predecessor, Naked Snake. He began voicing the character in 1998's Metal Gear Solid and would continue in the role until 2010's Peace Walker. For Metal Gear Solid V, Konami replaced Hayter with Kiefer Sutherland.
Outside of his voice work in video games, Hayter is an actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He took the lead role in the second live-action Guyver movie (based on Yoshiki Takaya's manga) and has lent his vocal talents to anime dubs for the likes of Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and The Castle of Cagliostro.