I just finished watching Season 6 of Mad Men (someone tell me Ken’s eye isn’t gone for good!), and the Heinz ketchup stuff made me think of this great old ad:
It got me wondering: what’s the best use of a song in an ad ever? I don’t mean a jingle, I mean a pre-existing song. The NBA “One on One” commercial stands out for me (the song and the its use in this context must represent the greatest achievement ever by a white R&B group). The Carnival Cruise ad with “Lust for Life” got my attention but the song and product didn’t mesh for me.
I always thought “Put Me In, Coach” would be a good song for an airline advertising the comfort of its economy class…but perhaps such airlines don’t exist.
What else?
Redshirt
Capital One used the Spinal Tap song “Gimme some money” in a commercial, unironically, I assume.
Just Some Fuckhead
Charlene’s I’ve Never Been To Me, tourism ad for Maine.
Doug Milhous J
@Just Some Fuckhead:
What a song that was.
tybee
best unintentional ad/jingle:
had the TV on but with the sound off, listening to the radio.
doublemint gum commercial came on the radio as a tampax commercial started on the tube.
and the wife said “well, that was weird”.
the Conster
Pink Moon in that gorgeous moody Volkswagen ad. Made me go out and hunt down everything Nick Drake.
evap
Cindy Lauper’s “True Colors” for a Kodak ad.
Doug Milhous J
@the Conster:
That was a good one.
Citizen_X
I was always pissed that, in that ad, Johnny Yen wasn’t showing up, he wasn’t bringing any liquor and drugs, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to do another striptease.
the Conster
@Doug Milhous J:
Yeah it was. I didn’t want a VW cabriolet, but I wanted to be those kids on that night hearing that song.
John O
Can’t remember which cruise line it was, but they used “Sail Away” by Enya and the commercial always had a lot of appeal to me as a result. And I didn’t even know who she was until after getting curious from the commercial.
whiskey
jetblue?
MattF
For the record, the technical term for the non-Newtonian fluid mechanical properties of ketchup is “Thixotropy”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thixotropy
And also, the famous poem about thixotropy,
Shake, shake the ketchup bottle
First none will come, and then a lot’ll
is apparently not by Ogden Nash, after all.
zombie rotten mcdonald
I’m going to go with the Figgs’ “Je t’adore” in the Lexus commercial because I love the Figgs.
The Red Pen
@the Conster:
Me too — and a lot of other people. Sadly, Mr. Drake had died by the time his album sales spiked.
Most of the time, great music used in ads makes me pray for the meteor.
Citizen_X
@Citizen_X: The Onion’s response.
Botsplainer
Brighter than the Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU5o6M7S5nQ
psycholinguist
I couldn’t help but like the HP (I think) add for color printers that used “Pictures of You” by the cure.
Roger Moore
@Redshirt:
And HP used The Cure‘s “Pictures of You” in an ad for their photographic products. I thought that was a pretty bad misunderstanding of the song. British Airways using The Clash‘s “London Calling” was bad that way, too.
cleek
@the Conster:
yep.
the copy of Pink Moon i bought actually had a sticker on it that said “As seen in the VW commercial”.
back in 77, ABC used to do network promos using “Still The One” by Orleans. i can’t hear the song without thinking of ABC, 36 years later.
gogol's wife
Flower duet from Lakme, British Airways:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVi6GgQBkwE
Chris
If we’re counting movie trailers, I loved the ones for Bruce Almighty a decade or so ago. Starts with wondrous inspirational music, Morgan Freeman speaking inspiringly to an as-yet-unrevealed protagonist, and the trailer asking you “IF YOU COULD BE GOD… WHAT WOULD YOU DO… WHO WOULD YOU HELP? HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE… THE MOST POWERFUL RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL?”
Cut to Jim Carrey swaggering down the street and blowing up a fire hydrant to the beat of “I Got The Power.”
Good use of the song, and probably my favorite movie trailer of all time, actually.
Botsplainer
There was a commercial for Mercury (the Milan, I think) back a few years ago that had a great tune, but I can’t find it now that every dealer’s website has videos of their cars.
Bruce Lawton
Chevy truck’s “Lean on Me” from the late 90s
Joel
Here’s a “not meshing” song and ad combo.
Trollhattan
@the Conster:
That one really, reallyl worked, and jetted me back decades to when Drake still breathed.
Botsplainer
Remember the Kia hamsters?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miC1VZ9UVCQ#t=31
Alexandra
Absurdly besotted with Mad Men. Seen all series four times now. Sad, but fuck it.
Here’s some UK ads with songs, Guinness and Cadbury’s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IOs7IkN1qQ with Louis Armstrong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9znA_dwjHw with Leftfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo with Phil Collins
Trollhattan
@Bruce Lawton:
OTOH “Like a Rock” made me want to hunt down and club Bob Seeger. Seemed like they ran that one for decades.
H.K. Anders
Yeah, like others here, I would have to give the nod to Pink Moon in the VW ad.
But the Levi’s “Tainted Love” commercial from 1996 is a strong contender: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yBuzCVqOkY
JPL
Since I’m old, there was a radio jingle in the Boston area that asked How many cookies did Andrew eat? The answer was the telephone number of a carpet company. The ad has to be forty or fifty years old but I still remember it.
Doug Milhous J
@cleek:
I remember that ABC ad too! I had forgotten but now I remember.
Doug Milhous J
@Alexandra:
What’s your take on Ken’s eye? It’s going to heal, right?
Redshirt
I’ll confess I got into Nick Drake because of that VW commercial as well. Kudos to that ad agency.
psycholinguist
WAit, I got a good one.
Mazzy Star’s “into dust” on gears of war 3 video game was pretty stunning.
Alexandra
@Doug Milhous J:
Sure. Anyone who can tapdance like that is the man. Although I can see him leaving the biz.
reflectionephemeral
@the Conster: I really liked that too; they also had “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” by Spiritualized around that time, IIRC.
I like the kids’ music version of “Under Pressure”, among others, in ads for something now (maybe Target?).
Also, “She’s Gone” is a finer R&B achievement than “One on One”, though that has not been used to any particular effect in any ads that I know of.
Gin & Tonic
I’ll play old and boring here, but I always loved a British Airways ad that used music from Delibes’ Lakme.
Trollhattan
@Doug Milhous J:
I don’t think it benefits the GM story arc any to make it permanent, and to have him distractingly running around the office ala pirate would likewise would not serve any purpose.
They seem to have forgotten about Roger’s heart attacks scripting his further antics.
Chat Noir
@cleek:
Yeah, same with me.
Trollhattan
@Trollhattan: [too many woulds–I’m woulding all over myself but of course, FYWP for no edit button]
Gin & Tonic
I should read the thread before posting, as gogol’s wife is way ahead of me (and editing still doesn’t work.)
psycholinguist
That commercial with a half-drunk Eddie Money, now a travel agent, coming out and singing “I got…. TWO TICKETS to paradise” always cracks me up.
Linnaeus
@Redshirt:
Arnold Fortuna Lawner & Cabot. Who is no longer doing VWs advertising – Deutsch LA is.
Chat Noir
I always think “come fly the friendly skies of United” at the end of any version of “Rhapsody in Blue.”
the Conster
@reflectionephemeral:
Also Little Fluffy Clouds by The Orb, for the new Beetle. I’d like some of what those ad guys were smokin’.
Which brings us back to S1 of Mad Men, when Don sees the full sized ad for the VW bug in the paper, calling it a lemon.
gbear
@The Red Pen:
Using The Beatles’ ‘Revolution’ to sell sports shoes deserving the largest meteor.
Poopyman
Etta James singing “At Last” on some damned car commercial. I forget the car, but it made me go get more Etta James.
Roger Moore
@Chat Noir:
I also like that they seem to have listened to the whole piece and feel comfortable excerpting different segments depending on the theme of the ad, rather than going with the same few snippets every time. It seems like their ads are written by somebody who really likes Gershwin.
Laura W
the Staples back to school commercial using
MikeJ
@Linnaeus:
They sold a lot of Nick Drake albums, no idea how many VWs they sold.
p.a.
Hummer’s use of The Who’s “Happy Jack” is so wrong it’s right. Vehicle named hummer using song about masturbation.
raven
Keep Dat Funk Alive
Bootsty
Poopyman
And then there was “Blue Danube” for Pan Am’s space station shuttle run.
Christine
1987: Chanel No 5 perfume ad with Nina Simone’s “My Baby Just Cares for Me”. Such a great song.
Redshirt
A lot of old music got ruined for me by being beaten to death in commercials. I’m thinking your generic Ella Fitzgerald type songs. I can’t recall any specifics, thank the maker.
Roger Moore
@Poopyman:
ISTR that’s a Mercedes, who were really much better off when they used Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz”.
cleek
Infiniti had a nice one using Brubeck’s “Take Five”, a few years back.
Sublime33
How about Funs “We are Young” on the Taco Bell commercial where the old people break out of the nursing home?
Randy P
@Chat Noir: I’m slightly irritated by that use of classical music, but I’m REALLY irritated by how they cut it. Sure let’s just staple the last 10 seconds onto a random place in the middle, who cares if it makes musical sense? Gives me whiplash every time.
Other annoying uses of classical music in commercials: Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance” for some cleaning product, and Copland’s “Rodeo” in the beef commercials. Remember those?
catclub
@gbear: Windows ads using “Start it up[?]” from the Stones was in the meteor category, even before that version of Windows was known to be terrible.
Sublime33
Also, Trio’s “Da Da Da” on the Volkswagen commercial.
pamelabrown53
I’ve never seen a single episode of “Mad Men” Maybe it’s because I was born in 53 and have a serious bias about the 50’s. (Ick factor, aka, Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies-oh- let’s throw in Pat Boone).
Anyway, for all of you who can stream or watch: MI-5 has like 86 episodes and (IMHO)) it’s riveting from the beginning to the end.
Bingers Unite!
Chat Noir
Paul Revere and the Raiders — “The Judge” from Pontiac GTO!
zombie rotten mcdonald
the VW commercial with “Mr. Roboto” was also excellent.
Seanly
@Poopyman: Win
Doug Milhous J
@Christine:
A great one too.
wasabi gasp
I have no idea what Moondog’s Bird’s Lament was selling (credit card? car?) but it always caught my ear when it came on.
raven
@pamelabrown53: What it’s really about is the horse shit the “greatest generation” has foisted on us. They were just as fucked up and nasty as anyone. It’s all bullshit and Mad Men nails it.
Alexandra
@pamelabrown53:
It’s set in the 60s, a season per year or two roughly. Starts with a hangover from the 50s in ’60 or ’61, think we’re in ’68 last series. Covers a lot of current events at the time, directly or indirectly. Such good television.
Sublime33
And Staples using Andy Williams “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” when the joyous dad is buying Back To School supplies for the very depressed kids.
raven
@Chat Noir: On cuz they couldn’t get the Ronnie and the Daytona’s.
This little modified Pon-Pon has got plenty of style
She beats the gassers and the rail jobs, really drives ’em why-ee-eye-ild
C’mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO
Comrade Mary
Hands down best: The Walkmen “We’ve Been Had” in a Saturn ad. Introduced me (and a lot of people) to a great song and band, and made them a little money. Plus the commercial was pretty good for a commercial.
Redshirt
The Romantics “What I like about you” has been used in a ton of ads, and they never got a cent.
Amir Khalid
@catclub:
The Stones song that Microsoft used is Start Me Up. Apparently Mick (as de facto CEO of the band’s business dealings) quoted Microsoft some absurdly high price, never imagining they’d pay up. It was widely noticed that in the commercial, the song stops just before the line “You make a grown man cry.”
raven
@Alexandra: A friend of a friend wrote this, thought you might be interested
How Will Bradley Manning Be Treated in Prison as a Woman?
Emma
@Alexandra: Holy crap, that surfer ad is awesome!
Steeplejack
@the Conster:
Yes! I was going to mention that one. There’s another Volkswagen ad from some years back that had some kids dancing frantically to a sort of techno bossa nova song, but I can’t find it on YouTube now. It was so good I bought an anthology album that had the song on it. I guess that’s my benchmark—if the ad makes me hunt down the song (if I don’t know it).
Of recent vintage, this J.C. Penney ad made me hunt down the song (Keegan DeWitt’s “Say La La”).
Splitting Image
One of the worst uses of a song that I ever saw was the Bank of Montreal using Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin'” to promote their shutdown of many local branches and the move to online banking.
They actually used the verse “Come mothers and fathers throughout the land, and don’t criticize what you can’t understand. Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command; your old road is rapidly aging. Get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand, for the times they are a-changin’.”
Basically instead of running an ad encouraging more tech-friendly young people to do their banking online, they licensed a 40-year old Boomer anthem to tell their older customers that they could fuck off if they didn’t like what the bank was doing. Hard to imagine, I know.
FlipYrWhig
@Sublime33: Forgot that one, and it definitely worked. Anything that deflates Xmas saccharine crud is cool by me.
RSA
Yet another VW commercial: Electric Light Orchestra’s Mr. Blue Sky.
Just Some Fuckhead
APP, Sirius, Bulls Intro, still gives me the chills.
Jebediah
I did kind of like the HP ad that used The Kink’s “Picture Book.”
Splitting Image
@gbear:
The greatest thing that came out of Nike using the Beatles tune was an SNL skit that was done after the mass suicide at Heaven’s Gate. They ran a snippet of the song over footage of the bodies being found in their matching Nike shoes, and it ended with an ad for “Keds: the shoes worn by sane Christians.”
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
The mind plays tricks. I remembered the other song—Nicola Conte’s “Bossa Per Due”—and found the ad, but it’s for Audi, not Volkswagen. And there’s way less dancing than I remember. LOL.
But, damn, it’s a good song. I’ve got to dig out that CD. It’s Break ’n Bossa! The American Chapter (no link—I’ve hit the limit).
Jebediah
The HP ad with picture book
? Martin
Seriously, how could nobody have mentioned this:
Staples Rubberband Man Ad
And it gave us crabman.
MikeJ
@Jebediah: For some reason I was expecting an ad for brown sauce.
Steeplejack
Another great use of a song: Kool and the Gang’s “Summer Madness” in my all-time favorite Nike/LeBron James commercial.
piratedan
I liked the Mitsubishi ad where they used T-Rex’s 20th Century Boy
Eric k
A couple totally off ones:
Wrangler using Fortunate Son as a rah rah, go America jingle by cutting off right before the line “it ain’t me”
I can’t remember who using Waiting for the Man. Uh guys you do know that the man is his Heroin dealer right?
A really good one:
Some video game using Mad World. But that is pretty easy. That song is like In the Air Tonight or Hallelujah, they are so powerful on their own that they elevate things, just kind of announce this is serious pay attention. I suppose that could also mean it is a misuse, that an ad or movie needs to be worthy of the power of the song.
MomSense
All the apple iPod “Silhouette” ads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQw3mVWXncg
MikeJ
What do you consider fun?
The commercial isn’t all that good, but the song is one of the greatest ever.
Bobby Thomson
Take Five in the Infiniti commercials with Jonathan Pryce.
centerfielddj
VW commercials from a few years ago made copious use of songs from Wilco’s excellent CD of that season. Three or four different songs, as I remember it.
Since my fellow Doug discusses Mad Men and music here, I happily recall here the Season 1, Episode 1 closing song. We’ve watched Don sleaze his way through the episode (screws two women, inappropriately and disturbingly flirts with a third woman who is considering becoming a client, other unethical piggishness), and we aren’t introduced to Peggy and the kids until the last 2 minutes of the episode. As Don strokes his sleeping son’s hair while holding a faraway look and his wife looks in adoringly from the bedroom door, we hear…
…a very earnest production of “The Street Where You Live”; Perry Como, as I recall. Brilliant storytelling, that was.
Chyron HR
@Eric k:
Are you the real-life Patrick Bateman?
Redshirt
I think there was a Michelob ad that used “In the Air Tonight” and it was powerful – it made Michelob seem awesome.
gelfling545
@gbear: Another unhappy pairing was Ford (I think it was Ford) trying some time ago to use Fortunate Son (a select 10 words) in an ad and pretty much totally against the song’s intent. (They sort of left off the “It ain’t me” part.) I think that ad didn’t last long but it did make me want to throw things.
wasabi gasp
Here ya go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gspElv1yvc
Omnes Omnibus
@wasabi gasp: You fucking bastard.
Geoduck
The UK department store chain John Lewis did a nice one using “She’s always a Woman“.
cleek
@wasabi gasp:
aaiiieeeeee! change the channel!!!
MomSense
@wasabi gasp:
Noooooooo!
The Red Pen
@zombie rotten mcdonald:
Mainly thanks to Tony Hale.
Gin & Tonic
@cleek: One of my pet peeves (I got plenty) is that “Take Five” is a Paul Desmond song, not a Dave Brubeck song. Yes, recorded by the Brubeck quintet, but it was written by Desmond.
Roger Moore
@Splitting Image:
Wow, an honest advertizement.
Steeplejack
I’m going through ancient bookmarks to dredge up stuff from the Steepleton Archives of Media Studies and Pop Culture
I think this Smirnoff Ice ad ran only about four times before it was banned, but it was a perfect blend of song and visuals. Song:
Twelve Caesars, “(I’m Gonna) Kick You Out.”
The one comment on the ad page is perfect: “How did this thing ever manage to get on the air?”
cleek
i don’t know if they qualify as excellent, but a couple of song choices in commercials caused me serious double-takes: The Lilys “Ginger” was used in a Cadillac commercial, and Sea And Cake’s “Jacking The Ball” was used in a Citibank commercial.
those are two of my favorite songs from two of my favorite bands, though both are almost unknown. hearing them come out of my TV during otherwise unremarkable corporate filler was a pair of complete WTF moments for me.
reflectionephemeral
@Laura W: YES. That Staples ad is hilarious.
Bobby Thomson
@Amir Khalid: To say nothing of a dead man.
Roger Moore
@MomSense:
Those have the huge advantage that the basic point of the ad is “buy the iPod and you can get this awesome music on the iTunes store”. They’re really selling the music as much as the hardware, so the more awesome the song, the more appropriate it is for the ad.
J.D. Rhoades
Best parody of Orff’s “O Fortuna” ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY6uJlI-t14
pepper
crazy train for the honda pilot
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
I always liked Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” in the ’80s Michelob ads.
TooManyJens
This Jaguar ad using “History Repeating” is pretty great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA-lG5H5Njw
Randy P
Did anyone mention the Budweiser commercial that used Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious” to make fun of sports fan superstitions? That was hilarious.
wasabi gasp
@Omnes Omnibus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjy_7haflaM
Steeplejack
Going way back (50 years!): Alka Seltzer, “No Matter What Shape.” Although I think the song became a hit (by the Ventures?) after the commercial, not before.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
VW also got good mileage out of Trio’s “Da Da Da”.
MikeJ
IIRC, Walter’s Theme was REM’s attempt at writing a jingle.
Emma
@J.D. Rhoades: You owe me a check for the medical expenses. I think I broke three ribs laughing.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Gin & Tonic:
In jazz, he who books the studio or headlines the club gig recorded live time gets the song remembered under his name. Case in point: Eric Dolphy’s Fire Waltz was written by Mal Waldron.
Steeplejack
@MomSense:
I’m glad you posted that. I think I got some of those visuals cross-wired with the song from the Audi commercial I mentioned above.
Yatsuno
@J.D. Rhoades: The one thing that pisses me off about the overuse of “O Fortuna” is that many people think that’s the entirety of “Carmina Burana”. That is a tragedy, as the whole work is massive with amazing solo and mixed piece elements. Plus a song about monks getting drunk.
MomSense
@Roger Moore:
Plus the dancing is just great. I like the ones where the posters are dancing and as soon as he turns off the music the posters freeze.
the Conster
Another ad that made me stop and listen and then go figure out who was singing was the Citibank commercial with the woman who is buying stuff for her rock climbing trip and then climbs a rock needle to this song – Somebody Left the Gate Open is really pretty great.
Steeplejack
@J.D. Rhoades:
That’s hilarious!
MoXmas
So, I used to work on Carnival marketing, and it always amused us (and them) that people remembered them as using LUST FOR LIFE — even though it was actually used in a Royal Caribbean ad. (An ad also produced by Arnold Worldwide in Boston, just like the VW Pink Moon ad. I dunno who the music buyer is at Arnold but she does a helluva job.)
I think the actual song Carnival was using at the time was a needle drop version of “ain’t we got fun”. It might have been Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” But definitely not Iggy.
Anyway, the point is: great songs used in ads mostly remind people of how great the bands are, not how great the brands are.
Feist’s “1 2 3 4” is way up on the list of great uses of songs in ads — a standout even for the iPod ads.
tybee
@cleek:
and a jimi hendrix song on a buick ad
Citizen_X
I don’t know what the music is, but this is my favorite ad of all time–the 2003 Mexican ad saying goodbye to…well, you have to watch it.
Gin & Tonic
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Not nearly as iconic an example, though. Generally only cognoscenti would know who Eric Dolphy was, or could name any of his tunes, and those probably also are familiar with Mal Waldron. Unfortunately, everybody and your Aunt Mabel knows “Take Five” and “know” that it’s the Brubeck song. Tough luck for Desmond, although I’m sure he was happy cashing those royalty checks.
Mike H
Another NBA commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfvproRmoF0
wasabi gasp
The band Jackson Analogue took back their first album from Island Records and licensed it worldwide for commercials and whatnot. This song was used in a Foster Grant commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=altBSe50UE8
Thinking of that reminded me of this video that looks and sounds like a commercial, but isn’t: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3omCUUNKFqs
Cris (without an H)
Heresy I know, but I thought “Instant Karma” worked really well as a Nike commercial.
Cris (without an H)
Mitsubishi, Start the Commotion
JustRuss
@Amir Khalid:
Maybe they were saving that for Windows 8.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Gin & Tonic:
Jazz is a collaborative, improvisational form. The artists know it. I doubt Desmond ever made a fuss about it.
ThresherK
@Citizen_X: My internal gears strip when I try to juxtapose that Carnival ad with the ones sung by Kathy Lee Gifford to “Ain’t We Got Fun” (c. 1920, Richard Whiting, Gus kahn).
Extra What’s That?? points for having to cram two extra syllables into the lyric (“Carnival’s got the fun”), as the original is a spot-on worded piece where all the note meet the vocal sounds, from the era when melisma was almost a mortal sin in songcraft.
(Bonus lyric: “There’s nothing surer/The rich get richer and the poor get children”.)
Gin & Tonic
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Says on Wikipedia that when he died, Desmond left the royalty rights to the American Red Cross, which earns about $100k/yr from that.
PurpleGirl
@? Martin: Yes, it’s a good ad…. but it was for OFFICE MAX.
Jamey
People gonna be ‘hatin, but itsa ’bout fucking time Iggy finally gots paid
Also, this is awesome this (especially if W. Coyne directed the ad and negotiated the deal his own damn self)
smintheus
Telus had a cute commercial using Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth, performed by maylee todd.
Here’s an incomplete version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArPrXStjJSI
Jamey
I forget the product, but when I was in London a few years back, I heard an ad set to Supergrass’s amazing and under-appreciated, Richard III.
Tonka
The GI JOE/Barbie add for Nissan 300ZX using Van Halen’s You Really Got Me
http://youtu.be/uXdFKcETEPg
SiubhanDuinne
I always loved the Traveler’s insurance commercial with the cute dog all worried about his bone, to Ray Lamontagne’s “Trouble.”
EthylEster
OK, it’s not a real song but it went way beyond a jingle.
Coke’s “It’s the real thing.” in all if its many variants….the motown version might have been my favorite.
dianne
A band called Zeroleen had a great song for Thunder Valley Casino near Sacramento – I bought the song from Itunes but it just wasn’t the same as the bit they used for the commercial. Right now, a Rob Crowe song is playing in a Kingsford charcoal commercial. It is a slow, moody version of Fascination by the Human League. I loved that song back in the day but I love this newer version, too. Now, on to Itunes to look up Pink Moon. I’ve never heard of it.
Jennifer
I had a mix tape I made back in the late 80’s called “Best of Beer” which featured all the great songs used in beer ads. (For example, Muddy Waters “Mannish Boy;” Eric Clapton’s “After Midnight”) A few years later I made “Son of B.O.B.” with more great songs from beer ads.
But the best recent music in commercials probably was on all the iPod “sillhouette” ads a few years back. They were good at picking kicking tunes.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
The words are dramatically changed, but I think everyone will recognize the tune:
HDTV from YES commercial
Bonnie
@psycholinguist: That’s the one I liked best.
Comrade Mary
@smintheus: OK, I loved their use of Le Tigre’s Deceptacon. Someone at Telus really, really likes Le Tigre.
Wally Ballou
Miller High Life – I’ll Be Home for Christmas
That one ran every December for years and years and I always loved it, even if you’d have to pay me to drink the stuff.
Barney
@H.K. Anders:
Levi’s (in the UK, anyway) had a whole series of ads using classic music. This was probably the most successful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q56M5OZS1A8
which was well-known enough to get a spoof from another product:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFIuf7XVBCM