According to Advertising Age, Overseas Celebrity Endorsement A New Thing

Writing as if overseas celebrity endorsements of American celebrities is a new thing and, apparently, never having heard of Japander (which has been around forever but currently appears to be undergoing some sort of renovation). Advertising Age goes for a bit of celebu-journalism. The gist of the piece is how, recently, celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie have fallen on hard legal times making it difficult for brands to rely on them to represent their brands alongside endless news stories about their troublesome dalliances.

However, as if the rest of the world is cut off from the Internet (OK, so some of it actually is), it appears to be news American celebrities and their handlers are turning to overseas markets to strike endorsement deals. This story is five years old. Jus' sayin'.