Ever since her 2009 debut as Gloria on ABC's smash hit, Modern Family,
this curvaceous and charming Colombian-American entertainer
has consistently topped Forbes' annual ranking of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. So
what's her magic secret? Here's how Sofia Vergara rakes in all that cash.
"I'd buy anything from you. I'm thinking about having my chompers
bleached and there's only half of you up there. Really? Yeah."
Vergara has been
one of the more prominent spokespeople for Diet Pepsi ever since her print campaign
touting the "skinny can" debuted in 2011. But critics claimed that Diet Pepsi digitally
altered the actor's bombshell curves in an effort to equate "skinny" with beauty.
Vergara denied the accusations and went on to star in high-profile TV spots for the brand.
"One Diet Pepsi please…Ahhh."
But Vergara has actually been part of the Pepsi family since way back. When she was just 17
years old, she appeared in a TV spot after being discovered by talent scouts. She told ABC News,
"I had never done anything. I was in Catholic school. I was
afraid because I knew the nuns would not allow me to do that,
to be in a bathing suit on the beach. But then I got it after the audition."
Vergara tweeted in
2011 that she was officially the newest face of CoverGirl. Though she would be joining a
long list of mega-celebrities for the brand — like Taylor Swift and Ellen DeGeneres — Vergara
pointed to her heritage in owning her corner of the market. She told People magazine,
"I love that I have the Latin flavor;
Latin girls can relate to me, see what I'm wearing, see my makeup, my hairstyle."
But Vergara didn't just talk the beauty talk. Whether she was hitting the red carpet
or walking down the aisle at her own wedding, she's been exclusively rocking CoverGirl ever
since becoming a brand ambassador. According to Yahoo! Life, Vergara sported a custom berry-red
lipstick called "Sofia in Love" when she got hitched to actor Joe Manganiello.
"Are you crazy? I would never go out without my CoverGirl."
In 2013, Vergara began representing a product
that hit much closer to home than most. After she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2000 at just
28 years old, Vergara had an operation to remove her thyroid gland, leaving her with a hormone
deficiency, and in turn, a prescription for a medication called Synthroid. She told HuffPost,
"I got rid of the cancer and then for me it was, 'Oh shoot,
now I have to live with this condition my whole life. I'm very, very straight with the way I try
to do what the doctor says and I go to my doctor religiously and get my blood tests."
"The good thing was that, you know, I decided to educate myself on it."
Synthroid hoped Vergara's dedication to her health would inspire others to follow suit,
launching the campaign "Follow the Script" to raise awareness
about hypothyroidism and its symptoms and treatment options.
In 2013, E! News revealed
Vergara had been tapped as spokesperson for Head & Shoulders. While a drugstore anti-dandruff shampoo
may not be the first product you'd think you would find in a rich and glamorous celebrity's shower,
Vergara swears she has been using the product for over 20 years.
"It's dry. Your scalp? Mine gets dry in the winter, too. Try Head & Shoulders dry scalp care."
Since joining the Head & Shoulders family, Vergara has been busy churning out TV spot
after TV spot for the hair care line alongside her actual relatives,
including her son, Manolo Vergara. The actress said in a statement,
"Head & Shoulders has been a part of my hair care regime and my family's
since I was young. In fact we joke that 8 out of 9 Vergara's use it; AND there are a LOT of us."
Suffice to say, as far as Vergara is concerned,
Head & Shoulders is... head and shoulders above the rest. Sorry, had to do it.
Wanna smell like Sofía Vergara? Well, you have your pick of aromas, considering that
the actor has created five fragrances under her name, since 2014: Sofia by Sofia Vergara, Love,
Tempting, Tempting Paradise, and Lost in Paradise. But she wasn't just sitting back
and letting her marketing team do all the work. Both Vergara and her business partner,
Luis Balaguer, emphasized the Modern Family star's insistence on leaving her personal
imprint on each scent. Vergara explained in a press release during her first launch,
"I wanted to bring a little bit of who I am,
my ethnicity and create a fragrance that is a true reflection of me."
Balaguer added,
"Sofía wanted to be very involved in the development of the fragrance and we knew
it was critical to carefully choose the right partners, as well as the distribution channels."
"I wear them like crazy. Because that's how I know that the men or the woman liked it, you know?"
As with most products she co-develops or endorses,
perfume has always been a personal indulgence for Vergara. She revealed to InStyle,
"I love to try new scents. What I would wear in the day may differ from what I wear at night.
Fragrance and beauty is something I'm really passionate about,
so you will definitely see more of my footprint in that world."
As she gained her footing in the entrepreneurial
world, Vergara ventured into more collaborations with brands, versus simple celebrity endorsements.
In 2014, People reported that she partnered with Kay Jewelers to launch a 52-piece fine
jewelry collection called "So Sofia." Retailing anywhere from roughly $50 to $1,300, Vergara
found the endeavor to be a natural expansion of her personal brand. She told Bustle in 2015,
"Ever since I was a girl, I've worn and loved jewelry. It was an easy decision because it is
something I have always dreamed of doing. […] I never even go to sleep without jewelry on."
"Colombian emeralds over here. Yeah. 400 karats. That's it? That's it. I went light today."
According to her line's official press release, "So Sofia" featured everything
from rings and earrings to necklaces and bracelets — and much of the collection
was set with diamonds and semi-precious stones and gemstones. Most distinctively,
each piece had a hidden natural emerald, the gemstone of Vergara's native country, Colombia.
In 2015, Vergara stepped full force
into the java business. In a partnership with housewares innovator SharkNinja, Vergara helped
develop a cutting-edge coffee machine, the Ninja Coffee Bar brewer. This appliance has the ability
to brew equally well-balanced iced and hot coffees through its, quote, "revolutionary Thermal Flavor
Extraction technology," according to a press release. In keeping the richness of flavor
often lost during the melting of ice, the brewer allows users to experience
coffeehouse-quality iced drinks from their own kitchen countertops. Vergara mused in a statement,
"I never even thought it was possible to make a great iced coffee at home!"
The actress was delighted to be included in the developmental stage of this new
product collaboration, while her business partner Balaguer called it the, quote,
"perfect partner for the Sofía Vergara lifestyle brand." Vergara noted,
"When [SharkNinja] told me about their plans to create the Ninja Coffee Bar,
I knew I had to get involved from both a personal and business perspective. This
is the best coffee I have ever made on my own and the best coffee machine I have ever used."
"I grouped with some people and I created my own
machine so that I can have my own coffee the way I want it."
In 2016, Vergara was so widely known as a spokesperson that a misguided beauty company,
Venus Concept, even used her likeness without her consent. And as ABC News reported, the misstep
resulted in a whopping $15 million lawsuit. According to court records obtained by the outlet,
Vergara chose that amount because it's the fee the star can charge to endorse a product.
The whole mess started when Venus Concept gave Vergara a signature Legacy skin tightening
massage treatment and Vergara posted a snapshot of the procedure to Instagram. But according to
the lawsuit, Vergara wasn't exactly ready to shout about the product from the rooftops.
According to court records, via People magazine,
"Vergara tried the Legacy treatment, but ultimately did not like it,
finding that it was a waste of time and money with little in the way of any results."
Despite alleged attempts from Vergara's camp to ask the company to stop using her likeness on
promotional materials for the massage, the company went forward with their plans. But in 2017,
ENTITY magazine reported that Vergara had, in fact,
reached a settlement with the company, the details of which remain confidential.
In 2017, Vergara furthered
her empire to include a bit of philanthropy,
launching a subscription-based underwear line, EBY by Sofia Vergara. With the letters
of the name standing for "Empowered By You," the concept is straightforward:
Ten percent of sales from subscriptions will go toward the Seven Bar Foundation, which helps
economically disadvantaged women launch their very own businesses. Vergara told W magazine,
"My partner Renata Black gave me the idea, as she came to me with the underwear business.
Then she told me about the Seven Bar Foundation. I thought it was amazing because we were going
to have a business and we're going to help women with their businesses."
The brand is inclusive, offering a wide range of sizes, as well as a multitude of styles,
including everything from thongs to boyshorts. The actor noted,
"It doesn't roll up or do weird things like give you a muffin top, and they're super comfortable."
"Seamless EBYs will be your second skin.
Everybody's gonna think that you're wearing no underwear."
In 2019,
after crushing the fragrance, jewelry, and underwear markets,
Vergara made the leap to apparel with a Walmart-exclusive denim line called Sofía Jeans.
She shared an Instagram post celebrating the 100-item collection — which includes jeans,
jackets, and graphic tees — in sizes, and prices, for everybody. Vergara told People,
"We created this thinking of women everywhere of every size, ethnicity, age. For the first
photo shoot, we used women in my family. None of them are models or supermodels."
"I thought I was very scared of jeans that were not
tight and now I realize that they're really fun."
The collection's affordability was also a matter close to home for Vergara. When
she first moved to Hollywood, Walmart was what she could afford. She said,
"I would buy all of my son's clothes at Walmart and the school supplies,
kitchen supplies — everything."
Looks like Vergara is certainly one star who is happy to pay it forward in every way she can.
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