Why it REALLY pays to know your music!

[Pilgrim]

I was just watching a TV show and saw a new commercial for GMC SUVs.  It talked (of course) about how nice the vehicles were, and how they were the real thing, the genuine article.

That's fine. But the music that introduced the commercial and ran underneath was 100% WRONG for the message. 

It was....wait for it......

The Who doing "Eminence Front."

Can there be any greater irony than a commercial pushing its product as the real thing while the music behind it is all about being a fake, being a false front, and being a phony??

The music never gets past the instrumental intro, so the lyrics never come up. But anyone who knows the music and its message  should realize how deeply ironic the music and the commercial are. I suspect the licensing firm that allowed the music to be used giggled while signing off on the spot. I'm sure they got it even if GM's ad agency didn't.

[gweimer]

Nice.  Kind of like Disney Cruises using "Lust for Life" in their commercials.  Did they not realize it was a song about heroin?

[Dave W]

Or Wrangler using the opening line of CCR's Fortunate Son... exactly opposite of the way it was intended.

[gearHed289]

[Dave W]

I don't remember that one at all. Makes me glad I didn't watch much TV at that time.

[Grog]

Just before Christmas, I heard the soundtrack for the ZZ Tops song, "I Thank You" used in a chocolate commercial. "You didn't have to shake it like you did, but you did, but you did, & I thank you!"
Many years ago, a new magazine for todays woman hit the stand called "First". They used the soundtrack from the J. Giels song, "First I Look At The Purse". Not the message the magazine would like advertising to it's target buyer...........

[uwe]

Furry purses you mean then?   I'll never listen to that song innocently ever again.

[Dave W]

Just before Christmas, I heard the soundtrack for the ZZ Tops song, "I Thank You" used in a chocolate commercial. "You didn't have to shake it like you did, but you did, but you did, & I thank you!"
Many years ago, a new magazine for todays woman hit the stand called "First". They used the soundtrack from the J. Giels song, "First I Look At The Purse". Not the message the magazine would like advertising to it's target buyer...........

Could be worse. Can you imagine a jeweler using ZZ Top's "Pearl Necklace"? 

[Highlander]

Encapsulated... there are some strange folks out there...

[gweimer]

Could be worse. Can you imagine a jeweler using ZZ Top's "Pearl Necklace"? 

No, but Helzberg Diamonds used "Mojo Box" from SCOTS one year.  I thought that was pretty cool.

[nofi]

and then there are these.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/rock-star-commercial-jingles/

[Pilgrim]

and then there are these.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/rock-star-commercial-jingles/

Those are fantastic!  The Paul Revere Judge spot is a perfect "period piece"...and the Moody Blues spot is so dang smoooooth...

[Droombolus]

We weren't used to our pop bands doing commercials in Holland back in the day. It took the Golden Earrings some time to live that commercial down, people called them the Cola Earrings for years ........ 

[westen44]

We weren't used to our pop bands doing commercials in Holland back in the day. It took the Golden Earrings some time to live that commercial down, people called them the Cola Earrings for years ........ 

Of course I wasn't there, but I don't know why they objected to the Coke commercial.  Cream's Falstaff commercial is even on their compilation CD set.  Several years ago, I saw Barry Hay on a sunglasses commercial and that seemed fine. 

[slinkp]

Lately, there's been a car commercial (Acura?) with an instrumental version of the Pixies song "Where Is My Mind?".
So, the message is, if you buy this car, you've lost your mind?

Last year the same band had their song "Gigantic" used to sell iPhones.  That one was about ... well, about a large dark skinned phallus.
How that relates to iphones, I won't speculate.