Posts tagged "sell your soul"


Sell Your Soul

Posted by chewablevitamins August 5, 2008
Posted to themes  sell your soul 

Don Draper opined in the pilot episode of Mad Men:

Advertising is based on one thing: Happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car… It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is okay. You are okay.


What in this world fills us up with that sense?  The sense that all is right and we are safe and successful and okay? Music. For better or for worse, it’s music that turns images of cars and mountain landscapes, sporting events and dance clubs into little worlds that draw us in and promise our happiness.

Give us your worst and your best. What music in advertising makes you cringe?  What makes you swoon?  Own up, I know you have both.

Posted by daryn August 5, 2008
Posted to sell your soul 
60 plays so far

Trio - Da Da Da I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha

If you sat in front of a TV even once in 1997, hearing this song will immediately put you back inside that red VW Golf, complete with two goofy guys and one stinky armchair.

Posted by daryn August 5, 2008
Posted to sell your soul 

Long before Apple introduced us to the likes of Yael Naim and the Macbook Air, Volkswagen was making classic music-driven ads like this.  I guarantee you that if you play this song for anyone, their first response will be, “this is from that VW ad!”

Posted by daryn August 5, 2008
Posted to sell your soul 

And if we’re talking VW ads, how can we forget this group of teenagers, driving their cabrio through a starry night with Nick Drake guiding the way.

Posted by whitneymcn August 5, 2008
Posted to sell your soul 

I love this, and I fantasize that somewhere out there there’s video of the meetings between Ween and Pizza Hut’s marketing department…

via machinetext:

These never actually ran, but I can’t help but think of the jingles that Pizza Hut ill-advisedly commisioned from Ween. Hilarious and totally unusable, they were of course rejected and Ween posted them online.
Posted by whitneymcn August 5, 2008
Posted to sell your soul 
20 plays so far

Devo - Whip It

My first sell your soul thoughts were all of the tracks that made me sad, angry, or both when I heard them pressed into service shilling the new and improved on the airwaves. Happily, before I got too far down into that spiral I remembered Devo’s Swiffer commercial.

Now, this wasn’t just licensing—Mothersbaugh actually re-recorded the track with Swiffer-centric lyrics: “when you’ve got a dirty floor / you need Swiffer.” Absurd and perfect. My only complaint is that Mothersbaugh should have held out until Swiffer released a futuristic looking Swiffer robot that cleans your floors for you.

Swiff it. Swiff it good.

[Note: I haven’t been able to track down audio or video of the Swiffer version so the original appears here. If anybody can help me out, drop a link or note in the comments.]

Posted by pootytang August 5, 2008
Posted to sell your soul 

Out of context, and perhaps in context as well, this song is frighteningly difficult to listen to.  A classic commercial song; if you weren’t in the 5 Burroughs when this gem was in heavy rotation, then you are in luck!  Don’t trust your first impression though - I promise that after 5 or 10 vieweings you will be hooked!  877 393 4-4-4-EIGHT.

?Enjoy?

Posted by whitneymcn August 11, 2008
Posted to sell your soul  openers 
30 plays so far

Isaac Hayes - Theme from “Shaft”

While it has been used in a number of commercials, Isaac Hayes’ “Theme from ‘Shaft’” is a “commercial” track in an even deeper sense: it kicked off the soundtrack commissioned by MGM for the 1971 blaxploitation movie Shaft.

Does that detract from the result? Is it less perfect for having its roots in Hollywood’s raw, self-serving exploitation rather than some pure and noncommercial will to create? Listen to the track again before you answer, and if your answer is still “yes” I’ll be coming by to kick your ass.

Rest in peace, Mr. Hayes: black Moses and bad motherfucker.

Posted by chewablevitamins August 12, 2008
Posted to sell your soul 

Nike - The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony

Who doesn’t remember this ad? These images are compelling, but the music makes them magical. I can play. I can conquer my fear. I can do that! I can! Genius.

PS. File also under: “The commercialization makes me cringe.”

Posted by chewablevitamins August 13, 2008
Posted to sell your soul 

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. - Chris Brown - Forever

This is not cool.  Chris Brown’s hit single “Forever” is currently #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s a standard pop R&B tune with good dance beats, club synth, and a catchy hook. Turns out, though: that catchy hook was conceived as an advertising jingle for Wrigley Gum. Listen close, Brown is singing “Double your pleasure, double your fun.” HuffPo reports:

“Forever” is an extended version of a new Doublemint jingle written by Mr. Brown and scheduled to begin airing next month in 30-second spots for Wrigley’s green-packaged chewing gum.

It could be argued that this maneuver is no worse than product placement in TV and film, a la ET’s Reese’s Pieces. Or, one may say that the industry is already entirely commercial and, moreover, plenty of artists name-check brand names in their music. How many tracks in your library include the name Louis Vuitton?  So at least Wrigley and Chris Brown are calling it like it is, right? Wrong. In my opinion, this paid-advertising intrusion on the music world is sacriligious and I don’t like it.

For your consideration, I submit “Forever” by Chris Brown: music in advertising, or advertising in music, as it were, gone wrong.

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