''I thought that it is a people' s matter -- food,'' he said. ''This is why if my name works for the benefit of consumers, to hell with it -- I can risk it.''

The script is deferential; indeed, it could be viewed as Mr. Gorbachev's ultimate fantasy. He arrives by limousine at a Pizza Hut and some patrons notice him. An older man grumbles, ''Because of him, we have economic confusion.'' A younger man disagrees, saying, ''Because of him we have opportunity.'' Patrons continue to argue, until an older woman pipes up, ''Because of him we have things like Pizza Hut.'' The patrons, pizza slices aloft, rise and give a standing ovation to their former leader.

Mr. Gorbachev responds with a dignified smile. He does not actually eat a slice of pizza, but sips coffee as he watches his granddaughter dig in happily.

Though the ad was shot in Moscow last Thursday, there are no plans to broadcast it in Russia. Esteemed in the West as the statesman who ended the cold war, Mr. Gorbachev is extremely unpopular in Russia, where he is blamed for allowing the Soviet Union to fall apart and for not having pushed reform of the command economy far enough. When he ran for the presidency last year -- his first campaign for public office -- he won less than 1 percent of the vote. To put it another way, Mr. Gorbachev's endorsement of Pizza Hut could well cause sales in Moscow to drop dramatically.

''Here in Russia, it will be understood one way,'' Mr. Gorbachev said of the advertisement, which has already been ridiculed in the Russian press. ''In other places, it is nothing unusual. I see my colleagues, former presidents, and your Presidents, too, taking part in campaigns.''