Sopranos Actors Reunite With Good Intentions in Sanpellegrino Campaign

You won't believe what's inside the trunk

If Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa paid you a visit in the early 2000s, things wouldn’t look good for your immediate future. In 2025, though, a check-in from the Sopranos actors yields nothing but love. So says a campaign for Sanpellegrino’s CIAO sparkling water beverages. 

Ogilvy created a 5-minute video, directed by Nalle Sjöblad, that turns these wise guys into nice guys.

The tale begins with Imperioli and Schirripa at a shipping yard, by a container with the message “With Love, Italy.” Inside, there’s an abundance of CIAO beverages and a note about sharing drinks with friends.

They attempt to do so, but It doesn’t go well. Everyone is either scared to say the wrong thing or avoid the pair completely. A mechanic is brought to the trunk of the car and told, “We have a gift for you. It’s from Italy, with love.” “Please. Please. I have a family,” says the man, panicking. He runs away before seeing what’s inside. There was no room for him anyway!

The boys can’t give this stuff away. In fact, people want to give them gifts—anything to get them out of their homes.

The spot ends at a diner (oh, no!) with a quick look at the entrance and a cut to black.

“As we considered how to pay homage to our Italian roots with the launch of CIAO!, we recognized the importance of finding the right personalities to serve as the conduits for bringing this gift from Italy stateside,” says Thomas Conquet, senior marketing director of Sanpellegrino. “As we thought about locations, characters and storytelling opportunities to convey that message, Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa were a natural fit. Just as we always strive to keep Sanpellegrino authentic to our Italian heritage, Michael and Steve take a lot of pride in their Italian American roots—and that comes to life for them both on a personal level, but also in some of their past acting roles.” 

Schirripa sent up his tough-guy image a few months back with ads for Freshpet. Likewise, Imperioli lampooned his on-camera persona in the NBA’s “Heist” commercials.

“While the world sees them as their iconic former characters, at the end of the day, they are two individuals who identify deeply with their heritage,” Alice Teruzzi and Francesca Ferracini, CDs at Ogilvy New York, tell Muse. “This made the product connection and occasion really genuine. We wanted them to be themselves, and made sure to leave space for some improv, which is ultimately what allowed the campaign to play with the cultural reference so well.”