I can't believe it ...
Just the other day, I was discussing with chanteur_dombre the latest trend of classic rock songs being used to pitch products. Aerosmith is selling cars, Natasha Beddingfield is selling shampoo (and her song isn't that old!). Tonight, I found the next in a long line of what I can only label "sell-outs."
I was in the kitchen and I heard Queen's "I Want It All" coming from the living room where hubby was watching TV. Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I am a HUUUUGE Queen fan, so my natural inclination was to venture in to see why the song was playing. (Honestly, it's like a moth to flame!) Imagine my horror in discovering it was a commercial for Chase!!! A classic rock anthem that, at one time, spoke for anti-apartheid and the disquiet of African-American youth being reduced to peddling the means by which an individual can choose to swamp themselves in debt just to satisfy their craving for material goods.
I'm thoroughly appalled.
What are they paying these people on Madison Avenue for anymore? Whatever happened to penning a catchy tune specifically for the product/advertiser? I realize that it's much easier to just toss some cash at recording artists who've already done the hard work (or at their label, since I don't imagine the artists actually get a huge cut of the royalties) but come on, people! Is nothing sacred anymore?
What's next ... Amazing Grace behind a commercial for GPS units? "I once was lost ..."
I'm sorry, but I find it a sad commentary on our materialistically focused society when I put a cherished CD in the player and my son says, "Hey, Mom, it's that song from the car commercial."
No, son ... it was a great song first.