US Actor Ashton Kutcher comes to a village near you?
Share this post:
Written by Sam Lister / February 27th, 2012, 4:33pm
From the north to the south of the country, the local residents of Ashton Hayes in Cheshire, Ashton under Hill in Worcestershire, Ashton in South Northamptonshire and finally Ashton Keynes in Wiltshire, were left shaken as their villages were ‘taken over’ and transformed across a 48-hour period this week - well and truly putting The Two and a Half Men star on the UK map.
In the early hours, village signs were mysteriously changed to ‘Ashton Kutcher’, flowers beds sprang up spelling out the star’s name and local pubs were re-named the ‘Ashton Kutcher Arms’, serving 3.9% Ashton Kutcher Ale - much to the confusion of many of the regulars.
A bust statue of Ashton Kutcher himself was also spotted in the local village shop of Ashton Keynes, plus a further statue taking charge at the bar of The Golden Lion in Ashton Hayes. Bus drivers later pulled-up at Ashton Kutcher bus stops to let on passengers.
Bamboozled locals were led to believe that it was the work of Ashton Addiction - a self-help group of fans completely obsessed by the celebrity, often resulting in strange acts of homage (check out and follow @ashtonaddiction on Twitter and for everything Aston Kutcher and Two and a Half Men, check out - www.ashtonaddiction.com).
Not all residents were impressed by the takeover!
Alerted to the news by leaflets and posters, the message to locals was clear: ‘Congratulations! Your village has now been named Ashton Kutcher’.
Shopkeeper Tessa Mills, from Ashton Keynes said: “I think it’s fantastic, and if he could even be here in person, especially as we'll be having the village shop official opening soon, if he could be at that, I think we'd have really hit the jackpot. We're a bit light on celebrities in this village so actually, if we could have Ashton Kutcher as our own, that would be fantastic.”
Unknown to the residents, the Ashton Kutcher village take-over was orchestrated by TV channel Comedy Central, who decided to play-out the prank in honour of the Hollywood star and celebrate the return of hit series Two and a Half Men, in which Ashton Kutcher plays the part of internet billionaire Walden Schmidt.
Bill Griffin, from Comedy Central said: “It seems the UK has been gripped by a kind of mania for Ashton Kutcher. The stunt was genuinely meant in good humour and if any of the locals were amused, bemused or in any way inconvenienced I’ll stand them a drink at the Ashton
Kutcher Arms”.
The new series of Two and a Half Men returns tonight on Comedy Central! Don't miss it!