Songs for sale

As a music lover, I get a little angry when my favorite artists show up in odd television ads. For example, what does Stephen Malkmus have to do with Sears? And how about Led Zeppelin and Cadillac? And Bob Dylan for Victoria's Secret? My job here today is to see if I can think of any matches between song and client that would be either good or humorous enough to be considered good. I want each to make the song really important.

Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

A diet company like Slim-fast - the commercial features a woman drinking a Slim-fast a day and looking at the scale. She's on the street walking right past pastry stores. In the last scene, she shakes out a pair of jean, puts them on and fastens them. Clearly from the 80s, they're acid wash and skinny leg. (pair this with the Journey live video and you've got a hit). Slim-fast could have a contest to go along with this. Provide a photo of yourself in a pair of pants in the 80s. Then fit into them again.

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams

For ESPN, targeted to people who move away from their college town or state and can't get their favorite games on television. The ad would feature a guy having flashbacks to old times, at games, at bars with tons of other team fans. He'd stare into bar windows and see teams in different colors cheering, then turn away, downtrodden. Then, when all hope is lost, he'd get a gazillion ESPNs so he can watch again.

Ageless Beauty - Stars

An ad for converse. It features a pair of converse as they slowly wear out. They're used in sports, in different seasons so you can tell it takes a long time. They get dirty, they get doodled on, they get new laces, the sole starts coming off, they get a hole and eventually, they have to be retired. They are carried through the house but pass the trash and go to a shoe rack to join worn out Converse in increasing sizes.

Hustler - Simian Mobile Disco

Twizzler commercial featuring a young child switching out lunch items for Twizzlers. In one scene he's offering the Twizzler owner a paper bag with the words: "Secret Surprise!' on it. It turns out to be a muffin. In another scene, he offers a juice box, which turns out to be empty. By the end, he is cruising down the hall, with Twizzlers in his back pocket like the hustler he is.

Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying - Belle and Sebastian

This would be for Orbitz or a similar company. The commercial would feature very bored people, in the dregs of life and an Orbitz vacation would be their way out. Orbitz would then add something to their site called "Get me away from here, I'm dying" that people could click on for impromptu vacations to spice up their lives.

That's it for now. Perhaps a Part 2 in a later blog.