The use of rock songs in advertising campaigns can be wrong for so many reasons. We know, and we’re acutely aware of how embarrassing/aggravating it is to hear a beloved rock song from your youth used in the soundtrack for, say, your grandfather’s dream car. Other times, although we have no interest in the product – or organization – using a favorite song, we’re all for the band getting a long-overdue paycheck for a work sadly overlooked by the mainstream during said band’s prime. Hey, sometimes it’s simply cute to see how Madison Avenue applies the music from Our Generation to another demographic.
There are rare cases when the song being hijacked by the big bad ad men is just right for the product being advertised. My parents splurged and took my wife, the kids, and I on a cruise a couple of years ago. We dreaded ever receiving such a gift, and despite my best attempts at telling my folks they didn’t have to spend so much on us, that we loved them, blah, blah, blah, we found ourselves bound for a Royal Caribbean Cruise.
Jeez, you know what I’m talking about! To our surprise, the combination of the high seas, the ports of call, the natives, the ship’s staff, the ample buffet selections, the shopping malls, the shuffleboard, the pool, and company of other elegant seafarers added up to an experience that truly did inspire a lust for life. Commonly held wisdom around the Halls of Rock is to poke holes in the junkie-associated lines that were cut from the Royal Caribbean ad campaign. Honestly, though, can you fault the company for using some good taste while accurately hitting at the essence of a luxury cruise line?
Some rock snobs are just plain cranky and close-minded about all this. They should lighten the hell up. Take a good look in the mirror, consider the pleasure you derive from some products, and tell the truth: What rock song that you love was used appropriately in an ad campaign? What rock song used in an ad actually reflects your experience with the product?
Gee whiz. Between Sears, and the cruise line ads, and the in-depth baseball coverage (yah, I know. RTH mission statement clearly says…) but I think I’m going to go out for a virtual pack of smokes (cue Thelonius’ “Misterioso” with the voice over “Like father… like son?”) I’ll check back to see how Peter Tork’s folkie cred is surviving the upgrade.
After the AARP ad, all I could think of was Carly Simon reimaging Anticipation for an ExLax commercial.
I absolutely loved the HP commercial that used The Kinks’ “Picture Book.”
Yes, that HP commercial was a great one. See, it is possible for art and commerce to work in tandem.
Geez, I hate commercials, really, really hate them, even if they try to coax me in by analyzing the playlists of my college shows. I approach every commercial offer like it is some hustler trying to pull me into a three-card-monty game.
That said, “Happy Jack” for Hummers was awesome.
The Nike ad that used “Rock n Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution.”
The Volkswagon ad that used Trio’s “Da Da Da” was perfect.
What rock song that you love was used appropriately in an ad campaign? What rock song used in an ad actually reflects your experience with the product?
I don’t understand Target’s Hello Goodbye.
I guess that Cadillac commercial using Led Zep’s Rock and Roll works for me. You can’t kill that song, and it implies motion. Plus, those reunion tickets must be really expensive like a Caddy and those guys have some terrible mileage on them. Plus, they’re probably powered by some crappy GM engine which is like not having John Bonham.
Nothing from Nothing by Billy Preston for Fidelity Investments? No, I have no experience with them. I buy stuff DESPITE the commercials.
That reminds me of those TV spots last year hyping David Beckham’s American soccer debut, using some Hello Goodbye cover. It was probably a corporate-sponsored ad (I’ll guess by a bank or credit card company) but I don’t remember the specifics. Despite having zero interest in soccer or Beckham and generally hating commercials that use crappy Beatles covers – I vaguely remember a recent one for something, possibly Target, which really bugged me – I actually thought it was a fairly neat little ad. I imagine that if I was at all into soccer, I might have been pretty psyched by that one.
I’m surprised that no one mentioned the VW commercial with Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon” yet or is it too obvious? There was a cosmetics ad (I think for L’Oreal or something) that used a song from Air’s Moon Safari album (I think it’s the opening track “L’Femme de Argent” or something like that) and I quite liked that ad as well. Oh and back to VW, their add featuring Spiritualized’s “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” was nice as well.
Sorry, I’m cranky and close-minded about this too. I share db’s general aversion to commercials. Music means a great deal to me. Using a song in a commercial would seem to indicate that I’m wrong, that music is nothing more than a way for someone to make money.
I can deal with it if an artist I like writes music for commercials, even though that is problematical as well. Yo La Tengo’s experiences in that area make for amusing reading:
http://www.yolatengo.com/sellout/index.html (This is part 3 .. links to parts 1 and 2 are at the bottom of this page.)
BigSteve,
Why is an artist writing a jingle for a commercial a problem?
I don’t think Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon” was an appropriate song for a car ad. As much as I love that song, who wants to think zonked-out, depressed guy driving in a VW late at night on a country road? Sent the wrong message.
I suppose I really don’t care one way or another. I just try and tune out commercials. I never thought they worked in movies, either. Being the Stones fanboy I am, I always hear how Gimme Shelter is used by Scorsese to such great effect in movies. I always drop out of the movie and start listening to the song if it’s a song I like.
A commercial or a rock video has the same affect on me – I tend to forget it or I laugh for a minute, like at the line “been a long time since I rock and rolled” in the Cadillac commercial. I always think, “I bet it has been, and you’re still listening to the same ten cd’s you had in college that your roommate didn’t want.” I hardly notice and I don’t blame anyone for trying to make a buck these days.
Dr j, it’s problemtic partly because, as YLT found out, what the Company wants is usually one of your actual songs, and they’re often willing to do what it takes to get what they want (see also Tom Waits).
And also it’s just a small step away from giving them the real song, in the sense that it implies that all music is just a commodity rather than art. I don’t think you can sell just a little bit of your soul.
I don’t like when an established, well-known song is used for an ad, because it’s a little more obvious that it’s a cash grab by the artist and the company trading in on whatever emotional resonance you might have with the song as a listener.
I have less problems with new or young bands making the decision to let a new song get used in an ad. While the company still benefits, it feels more like the band is getting something else out of the deal in terms of exposure. It shouldn’t have to work that way, sure, but you’d get tons of hits if you searched out people asking what that song was in that commercial, so I understand a band making that decision.
One case where I did go get an album because of an ad, and I guess this is a pretty specific case, was when Best Buy started up a CD-sales campaign with an ad promoting Davíd Garza, with whom I hadn’t been familiar before hearing the song in the commercial.
I really need to hear what’s going on in that Roy Wood ad.
BigSteve,
Good points. Yet, how possible is it to say artistically “pure”? If you play a show or record a song intended for airplay, aren’t you dealing with a lot of corporate machinery?
I think it is possible to stay artistically pure, though I don’t know if you can make a living that way. On the other hand I don’t buy the idea that the world owes every musician a living.
I guess my point is that when you license a song for a commercial, the song is secondary, and selling the product is primary. If you release a recording through an entertainment corporation, you can at least hang on to the illusion that the music is primary.
I admit that it’s easy to be pure from where I sit. From what I understand many touring bands are really in the business of selling t-shirts these days. And of course beer for the club owners. And that’s on the purer end of the spectrum.