*and miles and miles and miles*

[pikachumustdie]

Less than 3 minutes ago I saw a commercial for some kind of car. The background music was great. In fact, it was "I Can See For Miles" by The Who.

I would start to rant, but I won't. It's not as bad as Nike (whose shoes are made by child slaves in sweatshops) using John Lennon's "Revolution" circa late 1980s I guess.

Comments

[davidd]

"Some kind of car." That's a problem with using popular music tracks, or celebrities, or humor, in advertising. The technique eclipses the subject. In this case, the make and model of the car. And, there's the risk of offending "purists" who resent having art they appreciate crassly commercialized.

Personally, I consider popular music to be crassly commercial by its very nature; yes, this includes John Lennon, Jim Morrison, and other dead guitar heroes; so using this music for other commercial applications doesn't bother me. But I know it annoys many people, particularly the people who grew up with this music and consider it a part of their lives. These are the people who now have disposable income to spend on high ticket items like over-priced sneakers and automobiles. If I were a "creative" in the ad buisness, I would tend to steer clear of, or at least approach very cautiously, the use of popular music in product advertising.

Having said this... there was that two-minute promo video for an in-store cosmetics display I cut to a

[codeman38]

Don't even get me started on the SUV commercial that used Kansas' "Dust in the Wind." That one's just so wrong on a number of levels. >_