| 14th October 2006 07:42 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Posted on Sat, Oct. 14, 2006
McCARTHY COMMENTARY
SINGING A NEW TUNE ABOUT COMMERCIALIZATION
By Nan McCarthy
Kansas City Star
Wanna see a baby boomer get riled up? Start talking about the use of classic rock songs in TV commercials.
You know the ads I’m talking about — the one where Cadillac uses Led Zeppelin’s mega-anthem “Rock and Roll” to try to convince us that anyone but old people still drive Cadillacs; the Rolling Stones’ hit single “Start Me Up” resurrected to tout the introduction of Microsoft Windows ’95 (an operating system that really did make grown men cry); and Devo singing the new-wave “Whip It” while a suspiciously energetic housewife zips around the house cleaning floors with her Swiffer Wet Jet (talk about devolution — crack that whip!).
Many fans of these songs label the artists “sellouts,” feeling that, by licensing their work to advertisers, artists have “cheapened” their listeners’ favorite songs (along with the memories associated with them).
I got to thinking about this ad/music pairing myself lately with the debut of the newest Gap commercial, in which a 1950s Audrey Hepburn — thanks to computerized special effects — posthumously dances to AC/DC’s 1980 metal hit “Back in Black.”
As someone who was born at the tail end of the baby boom, I wanted to be outraged to hear one of my favorite rock songs being used to sell skinny black pants. But instead of feeling betrayed — and maybe this is the advertising major in me — I find this ad mesmerizing.
My reaction, I think, has to do with the fact that this is a really well-done commercial. The juxtaposition of the elegant and ultra-feminine Hepburn with the screechingly masculine guitar riffs and vocals of AC/DC is startling and brilliant.
Unlike so many clichéd commercials these days in which lazy creative directors think that slapping together a classic rock song with jerky-fast product shots constitutes hip (in other words, pretty much any car commercial), the Audrey Hepburn/AC/DC pairing works because it’s thoughtful and well-executed.
What’s more, the lyrics to “Back in Black” actually go well with the Gap’s marketing concept of the return of the skinny black pant, unlike so many other commercials in which the lyrics have nothing to do with or even contradict the product being touted (CCR’s anti-war song “Fortunate Son” in a flag-waving Wrangler ad?).
Or how about the pairings of artist and product that are downright nonsensical, like Bob Dylan appearing in a Victoria’s Secret underwear ad? Ewww!
Whether or not you like any of these commercials, I simply don’t agree with the premise that artists who license their work for commercial purposes are sellouts. A lot of musicians don’t even own the publishing rights to their songs anyway and therefore have no control over their songs being licensed.
Take for example the famous 1987 Nike ad that used the Beatles song “Revolution” to sell sneakers. A lot of Beatles fans were outraged, and it didn’t help matters that the rights to that song were licensed to Nike not by Paul McCartney, but by Michael Jackson, who owns most of the Beatles’ songbook.
Even if the artists do own the rights to their own songs, who’s to begrudge them some extra cash in a world where it’s increasingly difficult for creative people to earn a living? (This from a novelist whose semiannual royalty checks have the buying power of a couple of iced venti lattes.)
In today’s market of corporate radio and rampant piracy, older rockers (Aerosmith, The Clash) can make use of the advertising exposure to stay in the public eye, while younger indie bands (Moby, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) have a chance to put their music in front of audiences they couldn’t previously reach.
After all, pairing musicians with products to be peddled isn’t exactly a new trend. As far back as the 1930s, blues musicians sang songs about Good Gulf gasoline on Radio KCLN out of Blytheville, Ark., while B.B. King reached more than a million listeners over the years singing about Pepticon tonic on WDIA out of Memphis in the 1940s.
Elvis Presley made a commercial for his favorite Southern Maid Donuts in 1954, and, believe it or not, the Rolling Stones wrote a jingle for Rice Krispies in 1963 (snap, crackle, ROCK!).
The point is, we baby boomers need to take a deep breath and stop getting our skirts in a twist every time we hear a song from our teen years being used to sell everything from soft drinks to cell phones.
Our Gen X and Gen Y children seem to have no problem with the integration of art and commerce (have you heard the White Stripes’ jingle for Coca-Cola in Britain?), so why should we? My only wish is that I still fit into those skinny black pants.
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| 14th October 2006 12:52 PM |
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| jostorm |
If it wasn't for your contributions, TenThousandMotels, this site would be devoid of much of it's really interesting (and more intelligent) reading material....
And I like your signature!
Where is that picture by Dali? I mean, where does the original hang, private collection? I don't remember seing it at the museums of Figueres or St. Petersburg.... |
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