Bruce Lee Reincarnated for Whiskey Ad and Playboy Article

Bruce Lee is back from the dead, and CGI-enhanced Hong Kong actor and Bruce Lee's doppleganger Danny Chan Kwok-Kwan is making it happen. No, this isn't for a Chollywood remake of the Green Hornet filled with yogurt product placements. Worse than that – it's an ad for Johnnie Walker Blue Label.

What could've been epic has been watered down to, well, cheesy speeches about water. In the whiskey ad, Lee paces on a balcony overlooking the Hong Kong skyline and says, "Dragons never die, because they draw power from water..."

Lee also punches the air a few times. Not very moving.

According to Campaign Asia, the creators of the ad felt Bruce Lee's motto, "Walk on," a phrase the actor used to lift his spirits after injuring his back, is "synergetic" with the whiskey brand's "Keep Walking" message. Seeing that these two phrases mean exactly the same thing, the advertisers were clearly on to something.

For a more emotional exploration into Bruce Lee's life, China writer Mathew Polly recently wrote this fantastic never-before-told story of Lee's epic film, Enter the Dragon for Playboy. He shares some great anecdotes including this one from Lee's brother:

On Saxon’s first day in Hong Kong, in January 1973, Lee brought him to his house and asked to see his side kick. “Then he said, ‘Let me show you mine,’” Saxon remembers. “He gave me a padded shield to hold. Bruce did a hop, skip and a jump and blasted into the shield. I went flying back on my heels and landed in a chair, which shattered. I was in shock for a few moments, and then Bruce ran over with a concerned look on his face. I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not hurt.’ He said, ‘I’m not worried about you. You broke my favorite chair.’”

For more Kung Fu action, check out Keanu Reeves in Man of Taichi which is in theaters today.