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Brad Pitt's little brother Doug revels in viral ad spotlight

When you've lived much your life with a super-famous older brother, jealousy could be an easy emotion. But when your big bro is Brad Pitt -- well, that level of superstardom is so hard to fathom, it just might explain how little brother Doug Pitt remains so even-tempered. The younger Pitt stepped into his own spotlight recently with an ad for Australian cell phones that went viral in the U.S., and

When you've lived much your life with a super-famous older brother, jealousy could be an easy emotion. But when your big bro is Brad Pitt -- well, that level of superstardom is so hard to fathom, it just might explain how little brother Doug Pitt remains so even-tempered. The younger Pitt stepped into his own spotlight recently with an ad for Australian cell phones that went viral in the U.S., and joined TODAY's Matt Lauer Monday to talk about ads, Brad and their mom -- who recently made headlines of her own.

"It's a little surreal," he said of the attention the viral ad has brought him, "but it's fun. This whole campaign was to be tongue-in-cheek and have fun and luckily, it's hit its mark."

The ad focuses on the "normality" of Doug Pitt's life (he runs a family computer business), as compared to his famous older brother's, though it wasn't shot in his actual home. He said he had no idea the ad would go viral, and that he hadn't even told many people he did it -- but gave his brother a heads-up.

"I did call him and said, 'Hey, what do you think?' and he said, 'Do it, sounds great!'" After the ad came out and Brad had a chance to check it out, he texted Doug: "Hey, just saw it -- hilarious." "I was pleased," said Doug.

Funnily enough, Doug said he's been stopped in the past for looking like another famous actor -- Val Kilmer -- but these days people mostly recognize that he's related to Brad, and ask him questions about his brother, his brother's wife and their celebrity. "Honestly, my eyes glaze over," he said. "It's been these kinds of questions for a long, long time."

But the brothers aren't the only one having the limelight glare on them: Last week, a letter their mother wrote to a Missouri paper, taking a conservative stance on both President Obama and gay marriage, made headlines.

As Doug noted, they all respect each others' views. "Moms and dads and kids agree to disagree all over the world, so why would our family be any different?" he said. "There can be healthy discussion when people disagree with you, and I think there should be. The bad thing is when it turns into venom and negativity and we don't have that in our family. It's open discussion, we can learn from each other ... maybe you learn something."

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