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Songs mis-used in commercials


bazooka

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[*] Feeling Alright - Traffic/Dave Mason used in a Friskies cat food commercial.

[*] "Do you love 3? now at Applebee's" bastardized version of the Contours classic Do You Love Me? (Now That I Can Dance).

[*] Snippet of Skynard's Sweet Home Alabama used in KFC (Kentucky? Fried Chicken) promo.

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  • 34 years later...
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can any one think of songs from commercials that are not exactly appropriate for the particular product?

I can think of two:

The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" used to sell cars. Yeah, the line "Shoot 'em in the back now" really sells on the road family fun.

Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" used to sell Lunchables. When people hear that song they think of gettin in the mood, not lunch meat and a juice box.

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Kiss' "I Was Made For Loving You" - "Tonight.... I wanna give it all to you, in the darkness, there's so much I wanna do". They're using this to sling Jello. I suspect Paul Stanley wasn't thinking of eatin' Jello in the dark.

Ken.

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Oh yeah...that's not what this post is about...okay, okay...songs mis-used in commercials...ummm...That Geiko commercial with that song, ..."I want to hold you 'til I die, 'til we both break down and cry"...yada yada...until the fear in me subsides" We are talking about car insurance here!!! :stars:

But, on the other hand, it's really funny when the pretty girl is spinning around holding hands with the little cute gecko...looking into eachothers eyes...frolicking in the meadow!! LOL!!! How rediculous is that...humerous though... :laughing:

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I saw a commercial for Starbucks coffee that had the guys from Survivor singing a version of "Eye of the Tiger" to a man going to work. It absolutely cracks me up. It's almost like a sell-out for them to do a commercial like this, but it is done so tongue-in-cheek that you can't take it seriously.

Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy...

Someday you might become...

Supervisor!

(or something similar)

:laughing:

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The obvious one would be "Revolution" in a sneakers commercial.

"Love is in the air" for Visa.

"Blitzkrieg pop" for Cell Phones.

"We are the champions" for Viagra.

One that did work was Queens "Im in love with my car" for a ferrari commercial.

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Now this may sound like a joke but I assure that I'm serious.

Not long ago, Preparation H wanted to use Johnny Cash's song, Ring of Fire, for a commercial.

Thankfully, the Cash empire refused.

"And it burns, burns, burns..."

I think I heard about that in the edge, a column in the Oregonian with news of the weird

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The 2 most heinous examples of songs misused in commercials are "Fortunate Son" and "Mercedes Benz."

Joplin's song was used by Mercedes to imply that everyone should strive to own one. The song is a commentary on how the quest for material possessions has twisted our values. Mercedes Benz was used as an example of a luxury item we feel we need but really don't.

"Fortunate Son" was used by Wrangler to push the patriotic splendor of their jeans. The song is about a kid who gets drafted and has to fight a war while George Bush got to sort of serve in the National Guard because his daddy was important.

What makes these so bad is that Janis Joplin and John Fogerty had no say in the matter. Devo has been misuing their songs in commercials for years (see Songfacts for "Whip It" and "Freedom Of Choice"), but they control it. Same thing with The Who.

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  • 3 weeks later...

To me, just about any popular song used in a commercial (as a jingle) is a song misused. The trend must be working for advertisers because this seems to be an epidemic. Every new one bums me a little bit, most especially when the lyrics are changed to include some slogan (Kragen Auto Parts messing with Canned Heat's Let's Work Together is a mild example -- others are far worse)

Wasn't Sting's Desert Rose used to advertise something (some SUV, maybe?) and it was like it had just been released? The lag time between radio play and TV commercial seemed to not exist.

The Rolling Stones' Start Me Up was used/misused for Microsoft. They just used the beginning, and I guess nobody gave a thought to the closing lines of the song (sometimes cut off on the radio): you make a dead man c#m

I've heard the Stones figure "it's only rock and roll' when their stuff is used, and are happy to take the money and sponsorship for their tours. Some other artists are upset with their "art" being compromised, but one way or another lost the rights to the songs.

This Note's For You is Neil Young's comment about the commercialization.

And then there's the witty "The Who Sell Out" album from 35? years ago that features bogus jingles for 'Odor-o-no' and 'Heinz Baked Beans', etc. (a prediction?)

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The Nissan commercial about a truck with STP's "Wicked Garden" was cool but only because I like the song.

I was disturbed when Peter Gabriel's "Come talk to me" was used in some phone company commercial. It's a beautiful song that just doesn't seem like something that should be commercialized. However, I wouldn't mind at all if Craftsman Tools wanted to use "Sledgehammer" in one of their ads.

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  • 1 month later...

Ugh! I get a headache thinking about it:

- The Clash's "London Calling" to hock Jaguars - Jaguars, dammit!

- Aqualung's "Strange And Beautiful ("I'll Put A Spell On You)" to sell the new VW bug. Such a great song, but what a waste of car.

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Anybody see the new Alice Cooper commercial? It's really funny!!!

A little girl is shopping through a store for school supplies and you can hear the muzak version of Schools Out. She looks up at some one and says, "I thought you said Schools out forever?" You than see Alice and he says, "No I said school's out for summer"

I couldn't stop laughing!!!

:coolio:

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Led Zeppelin - Rock and Roll

I'm sorry but this just doesn't belong in a car/truck commercial. Ohh playing zeppelin and 4wheeling, I'm sold good game Ford!

That is the first song/car commercial misfit I thought of when I read this thread title. When you think Caddy (excluding the SUV's), you envision 70-something year old men with hats, driving 20 mph in a 40 mph zone. What genius came up with that brilliant marketing strategy?! Someone "Dazed and Confused" undoubtedly.

Nissan a commercial for the 2000 Sentra, for which they used "She Sells Sanctuary" by The Cult, and for the 2001 Sentra they used "Bargain" by The Who. For the Sentra?! Oh, now there's a real kick a$$ car! ::

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When you think Caddy (excluding the SUV's), you envision 70-something year old men with hats, driving 20 mph in a 40 mph zone. What genius came up with that brilliant marketing strategy?!

I always said when I got old my last car would be a caddy. About the marketing strategy.....were they really offbase? Think of it, the song "Rock N' Roll" is over 30 years old and there were alot of 20 and 30 somethings listening to it when it first came out. They're in their 50's and 60's now so I would think they were not too far off base.

The song I do not understand is Mitsubishi playing Ballroom Blitz by Sweet. Were they trying to match Caddy's choice of genre or perhaps they used the same ad agency?

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I'm not at all upset when I hear an old favorite on a commercial of some sort - it makes me watch anyway - but it also exposes the kiddies to some classic tunes, and sometimes even some rather obscure artists get a little airtime. None of my kids had ever heard of Nick Drake till someone used Pink Moon in a car commercial. (Now see - I remember the song but not the product - so the ad agency's ploy is not working). But then I try to look at the glass as half full. :beatnik:

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