French international footballer Thierry Henry is being paid more than €1 million to star in Renault Clio television advertisements.
Henry took over from French actress Estelle Skornik, who played the character Nicole in the previous, long-running series of Clio advertisements.
Those advertisements were set in the tranquil French countryside and used just two words - 'Papa? Nicole?' - to showcase father and daughter's separate, secret romantic encounters.
Henry is being brought in to attract young male buyers.
Past advertisements for the supermini also featured another French actress, Helene Mahieu, with the slogan 'Size Matters.'
'The 'Nicole' advertisements represented idyllic Old Provence,' said Gerry Moira, executive director of Publicis, the advertising agency that created the new Clio campaign. 'Thierry Henry has a cool charm and embodies a new, dynamic, multicultural France.'
The new Clio advertisements depict Henry looking for the meaning of 'va-va-voom.'
