The Missives of October

Sometimes a marketer can show rarely seen sides of a celebrity and, in the process, create an unusual, compelling portrait. American Express has excelled at this over the years. Its latest “Are You a Cardmember?” commercial stars Tina Fey, who races around problem-solving on the set of her Emmy-winning NBC comedy, 30 Rock. “This is good stuff,” she says to one writer showing her a document. “These are my divorce papers,” he tells her. She flits from crisis to crisis-trying out flutes, sucking out venom (“but this is the last time!”)—and even taxis home for her daughter’s “octopus time.”