ABOUT TEST PATTERN

Don't touch that dial: Test Pattern tunes into television, movie, music and pop culture links, as well as gossip and idle chat from around the Web.

Every week, msnbc.com entertainment producers Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Denise Hazlick, Paige Newman, Kurt Schlosser and Anna Chan weigh in on topics ranging from TV commercials to movie hype to the latest celebrity blunder. We're not ashamed to admit our love for bad TV or reveal what's on our iPods, and invite you to join the conversation via your comments.



TV commercial contest: Music in ads

Posted: Thursday, June 28, 2007 6:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:

Using music in TV ads makes lots of sense: If we love the song, companies figure, we may associate it with their product, and transfer some of that lovin' feeling on over into our purchases. And yes, sometimes a great musical choice can make an otherwise ordinary commercial memorable. And other times, oh, other times..

Why listen to the full song?
In past commercial discussions, we've griped about how often a commercial grabs just a snippet of a song and it seems apparent that no one at the ad agency bothered to Google the rest of the lyrics.

The ultimate example: You know it. That certain cruise line that uses Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life," blaring the chorus and nicely skipping over the part that discusses "the liquor and drugs, and the flesh machine." (Not to mention a certain line about the ear.)

Another favorite of mine is the car company that used The Dandy Warhols' "Bohemian Like Me" so they could play the line "You've got a great car." Whenever my husband and I saw it, we would always fill in the next line: "Yeah, what's WRONG WITH IT today?"

And a friend reports that a Cadillac SUV ad is using The Pogues' "The Sunny Side of the Street." Yeah, despite the title, that's the song whose lyrics include "a heartful of hate and a lust for vomit."

Older ads that used unintentionally humorous music included the Microsoft ad with "Start Me Up" ("you make a grown man cry"), the Nissan ad with "Won't Get Fooled Again" (fooled again...by a car company?), and the uber-patriotic Wrangler ad that used CCR's "Fortunate Son" ("and when the band plays 'hail to the chief,' ooh, they point the cannon at you.").

Songs either work, or they don't
Sometimes, the song absolutely lifts a bland commercial into a special category and makes it memorable. Of course, this is a very subjective area. I personally love the Fruity Cheerios commercial with the song "Happiness Runs" (watch it here) but some people say they find it irritating.

I also liked the M&Ms ad with the remake of Petula Clark's "Color My World," but I may have been as influenced by the cool waves of one-color M&Ms as I was the song.

A recent Ask Metafilter question had a viewer begging to know what song was used in a DeBeers diamond ad (the asker thought it was a Sears ad, further proof that good ads don't always sell the product). You know it: It's the one where the husband gets up and puts the diamond necklace on his sleeping wife (romantic or a little weird? you decide). Apparently the song that plays is Cat Power's cover of just 30 seconds of an old Cat Stevens' song, "How Can I Tell You?" Cat Power's version is beautiful, but apparently only those 30 seconds exist, so good luck getting a recording of it. Watch the ad (and hear the song) here.

Web resources
Looking for a good online source to help you ID a song from a certain ad? Here are a few
--Promo Guy has a blog and forums.
--So does AdTunes.
--What's That Tune? covers the same topic for UK ads.
--Songtitle.info is simple but useful
--What's That Called? attempts to answer that question
--The Trio.com newsletter recommended this thread on Hand Coding, a blog where folks keep posting questions and answers about ad music.

Throw out your own thoughts about music used in commercials in the comments.

Update: Want more ad talk? Business reporter Allison Linn has launched a new blog that takes a look at controversial and intriguing ads from the business side of things. Check it out at Ads of the Weird.

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

There's a number of car ads using Morningwood's "To the Nth Degree" for their ads.  During the song, they spell the band's name M-O-R-N-I-N-G-W-O-O-D for part of the chorus.  Of course, in the car ads they kinda modulate that part out.
Gordy - I agree about pink moon.  Nick Drake is great, and Pink Moon is a great record.

VW seems to have good taste in music.  I haven't seen any of the spots yet, but I've heard that they are using a few tracks from the new Wilco CD now.  Wilco is one of my favorite bands.
I also like the "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life" for the Journey Diamond.  If you ever want to know what song is playing in an ad, there's a site www.adtunes.com which I go to all the time.  It's very helpful!
Just how broke was Helen Reddy to sell "I Am Woman" to Burger King for one of their misogynist commercials?
The GEICO caveman commercial, with the caveman in the airport on the escalator.  I dont know who sings that song, but its great, and fits the commercial.  That commerical is hilarious!!!!
I've long said that one day, all the songs I know will be ad jingles, and so far, my dark prophecy looks to prove regrettably true.  Being a big Beatles fan, I particularly cringe every time I hear one of their songs in an ad.  The worst case for me though, and the moment that caused me to make the above statement, was a beer commercial from a few years back that used Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth", a Vietnam War protest song to accompany a skyscraper leaning over to steal a beer, or something like that.  The lyrics they use go "Stop, children, what's that sound?  Everyone look what's going down."  What's that sound?  Apparently it's corporate America stripping a poet's heartfelt words of any meaning in order to sell you stuff you don't need.  "For what it's worth", ahh the unintended irony.

Responding to someone else's comments here, "He's got the whole world in his hands" is a religious song?  I honestly never knew that, although I can barely remember the lyrics.  We used to sing that in public school, at least until 3rd grade.  I feel all indoctrinated now...
---
The Vonage woohoo song is the Transplant "Diamonds and Guns" it is a pretty dark song with a very catchy tune. Of course all of the Transplants songs are that way.
---
Actually, the Transplants one was used in some hair creme or shampoo ad. I found it annoying because the song had barely been out, at least locally, and also a bit of irony since the band was the Transplants.  
The song in the Vonage commercials is by the group "5, 6, 7, 8s" and is annoyingly catchy.
I love that Snickers commercial with the guy and the guitar because that song is so freakin catchy.  It does get stuck in my head all day too Missy, but it makes me laugh.  I crack up when I see them in the store, and I must admit....it kinda makes me wanna buy it.
I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE the Old Spice commercial with the man playing the piano with 3-4 women all around him playing a loungesque version of "Hungry like the wolf".  And then...the women sexily say... Ahoy.  That commerical makes my gray matter rupture.  I don't understand the choice of song, I don't understand the Ahoy...I don't understand why women would want to try to hang around a guy that is playing that song on the piano...and singing...badly...

Although I take it back, if you look at the real lyrics of the song...they go

Smell like I sound, Im lost in a crowd
And Im hungry like the wolf
Straddle the line, in discord and rhyme
Im on the hunt Im after you
Mouth is alive with juices like wine
And Im hungry like the wolf

Which is actually bad news for Old spice because if that guy smells like he sounds then he smells cheasy, and like a garbage can.  
I personally think that the best use of music in an ad was when Starbucks used "Eye of The Tiger". That has got to be one of the funniest and most cleverly catchy minutes of commercial over the past 5 years.
I actually really enjoy the Vonage "Woo Hoo" ads... my 2 year old and I have to dance when they come on.  

Another one that can get stuck in your head is the "Munnah munnah (doo doooo dododo)" one that has been used in several different commercials. I can't remember the most recent one I saw, but it was used in a diet Dr. Pepper ad (where the guy on a date is going on and on, and the girl starts seeing everyone in the resteraunt singing the song) for a while.  I don't where it originated, but I actually have it on a Best of Sesame Street tape.  My daughter loves it and we have seen the bit on Sesame Street many times as well.

And now I'm going to have it stuck in my head all day!
Sorry Kathy in Spokane,
The song in the Vonage comercial, is done by a Japanese all girl group called the 5,6,7,8s.(as heard in Kill Bill volume 1)
I think the song by the Transplants is in a hair product comericial.
The "Woo Hoo" song in the Vonage ads is NOT a Transplants song.  It's actually from one of the Kill Bill movies. The Transplants "Diamonds and Guns" is the "Woo Hoo" song in the Garnier Fructise ads.  Not that I'm an expert on "Woo Hoo" songs or anything ...
Remember when commercials had their OWN music instead of using other people's songs?  There were catchy tunes like "The Disadvantages of You" (Benson & Hedges 100 cigarettes) or "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In" (Alka-Seltzer).  Even bad ad jingles were written to stick in your head and be catchy.  Now companies just pay for a song someone else has written, and never mind the ideas it originally expressed.  

I'm not familiar with most of the newer songs used in commercials, but it makes me sad to hear the counterculture anthems of my youth prostituted to sell stuff (especially gas-guzzling cars that cost as much as houses used to).  And sometimes it's just plain odd -- not only the "American Pie" ad mentioned earlier (EVERYBODY old enough to remember that song knows the next line; what were the adwriters thinking?) but the strangeness of Mellencamp's "Our Country" seen on a CANADIAN version of the Chevy ad.  
One that I like, probably because I liked the band first, is the track for the online University of Phoenix.  They use a part of the New Pornographers song "The Bleeding Heart Show". The music pick really meshes well with the scenes they've shot for the commercial.
There is a great CD called “As Seen on TV: Music From Commercials” from the early ‘00s, all music that was used in commercials - some great stuff on it including Nick Drake’s “Pink Moon”.  I wish they’d do a second volume.  Anyway, my favorite song from a commercial would have to be Trio’s “Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha”, used by Volkeswagon about seven years ago, it was where the two college age kids were just driving around in their Volkeswagon and see the couch on the curb, they take it but it stinks so they leave it. Very infectious beat.  
There was a commercial a while ago with a mother singing "You are my Sunshine" to her child and ended with her humming it.  For Dove or Johnson & Johnson maybe?  Can't recall.
This falls in with the "Did they ever listen to the rest of the song?" category that Kirsten from GA mentioned.  People seem to love using "You are my Sunshine" for ads, but have they ever listened to the whole song?  The guy's wife/girlfriend (whatever) cheats on him and leaves him lonely and miserable.  The last lines of (I think) the last verse are:
"But now you've left me to love another /
You have shattered all of my dreams."

Now THAT'S cheerful!  I'm still waiting to see someone use the "Plastic Jesus" song in an ad...it'd be perfect for an insurance company.
Somehow it seems that 60's protest music ends up making the most ridiculous uses in commercials.  I still have to sing the rest of "Fortunate Son" whenever that stupid jeans ad comes up.  They definitely picked the ONLY line in the entire song that can, on its own, create a positive view.

Years ago, Mercedes actually ran an ad that used Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz", as if she was being serious!  That'd be like a construction company running an ad with Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi".  I was just a kid and didn't really get it at the time, but my mother looked like she was going to throw something at the screen.  Don't blame her really.

Also, one of the auto companies starting running ads for a limited time sale, using the Chambers Bros.'s "The Time Has Come Today".  I think they've still been using that recently, but I just get really confused watching that.

And while not protest music, that old H&R Block ad with the Beatle's "Taxman" was just taunting all of us.
The Chevrolet ad using "American Pie" neglects the usual interpretation of civil rights protesters being killed and buried in a levee by drunken good ole boys,not the tune I would use to attract the large African-American market.But then I can't understand why any African-American wears a Nazi helmet on a motorcycle(and there are more than a few I've seen.
I think one of the best commercials with a song is I think for maybe Levi's jeans..they are playing "Very Superstitious". It's the one where the guy steals the others guys jeans from the balcony and everything that the man does, the jeans make the other man do! Very creative!
One of the best songs used in an ad is the Starbucks commercial with the guy walking to work with the band following him around sing a version of "Eye of the Tiger"....Roy!, Roy, Roy......good stuff. But the funniest commercial by far is an old, old one from the Smart-Beep company. A guy picks up a girl for a date. He seats her in the car and while he's walking around to the other side, she decides to fart. When he gets in, he smells it and turns to her and asks if shes been introduced to his friends in the back seat. She had no idea they were there as she just crop- dusted the car!!!!! Almost peed my pants when I saw that!!!1
You people are ALL missing the only fun involving television commercials:  muting the sound and then trying to guess what on earth is being advertised.  You see people drifting through surreal landscapes or whales leaping in the surf.  Are they flogging washing machines?  Financial planning services?  Adult diapers?   Sometimes even when the ad has completed, you're still in the dark.  But then if advertisers are that cute, pretentious and self-involved, who wants to buy their products or services anyway?  
I have to agree that the Wendy's "Blister in the Sun" commercial is by far the weirdest use of music I've ever known.  For anyone who doesn't know the song, it's about the same general subject as Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop."  Everyone I know who's familiar with the Femmes is now rather grossed out about the concept of eating at Wendy's.  I have to wonder what the Femmes themselves think, as they probably weren't aware of the ad until it started running (music rights requests are typically handled through middleman companies due to volume).  It would have been interesting to have been there when they found out about it.

One word: "Crumbelievable."
How far has EMF fallen since the early 90's to sell out for CHEESE?
When they started using Dust in the Wind in a car commercial, showing vehicles disintegrating into dust, it just about ruined that song for me for awhile.  Hospital commercials are worst for their music picks.

My favorite, honestly, has to be the Cingular commercial from a few years ago that used "Talk Talk"  I had never heard that song before, but it was perfect for a cell phone ad.  And frankly, for the Royal Caribbean ads with Iggy Pop, I think the music sets the mood perfectly.  Then again, I rarely pay attention to song lyrics.  I'm generally only interested in the music itself.
Let me just start off saying that I love LOVE the song "I've Been Everywhere" by Johnny Cash. So every time I see those stupid commercials for some hotel chain with the tourist families and people singing their own version of it, I sort of want to throw a shoe through the television. It's AWFUL. I also adore 'Under Pressure' by David Bowie and Queen, but the Propel water commercial with the guy running with the cars and yelling bosses and whatnot attached to him is also a gross usage of a good song.
In reference to ad agencies not checking lyrics, Mercury uses Nth Degree's song "Morning Wood"... I can't believe it.  It is even SPELLED OUT in the commercial. Are they too old to get the reference?
There are a lot of awful uses of songs in ads, I agree. Thank god 'Born To Be Wild' has finally fallen out of favor!
On the other hand, songs can be used with taste and class. My favorite are the Liberty Mutual spots using music from a little group called Hem. Their stunningly beautiful song 'Half Acre' has been playing over scenes of people doing nice things. As an early fan of the group I'm thrilled to see them get some mainstream exposure, and even more happy that the ads are so lovely.
What's the story with Kentucky Fried Chicken using Sweet Home Alabama for their song?  I was always confused by this...
I love the minimalist VW Beatle add that jusxtaposes a series of square objects with the rounded car, all set to Polyphonic Spree's "Reach for the Sun."  P.S.'s music is generally pretty poor, but it seems to work just right in the add.  (This add may be out of date, I am not sure.)
A local indian tribe uses the first few lead-in nonvocal keyboard bars of the Elvis song 'Viva Las Vegas' constantly looped over and over in their casino promo ad. I suspect they've kept the riff to some short length where there is no copyright infringement (and hence no royalties), the clip is instantly recognizable but incredibly annoying because it loops and never gets to the melody of the song.
my favorite will always remain the Nike commercial that ran during the Olympics sometime back in the early 90s that used "Search and Destroy" by Iggy and the Stooges...my wife and i had gotten up to do stuff during the commercial break and when we heard "i'm a streetwalkin' cheetah with a heart full of napalm..." coming out of the TV we both turned around and ran back into the living room going "WTF???"
There's a song that used to play on the sponsership Toyota ads for Antiques Roadshow (yeah, yeah, I'm a dork) that I loved so much I emailed the company to find out what the song was.  The commercial is of a lone tire moving in and out of various points in the people's lives--a fast-forwarded pregnancy, a birthday party, an older man lifting weights, things like that.  The song is... let's see, where's that email?  Ah yes, "Beautiful World" by Kathy Fischer.  It's very lovely and peaceful, and works really well with the commercial.
They must pay big bucks for the rights to these songs.  Otherwise why would anyone agree to allow "I Feel Good" for a laxative commercial?  Whenever I hear that song I don't think back on my younger days, I think of that awful commercial with those people dancing.
My personal favorite "don't they listen to the lyrics?!" commercial was the GE commercial touting how coal is the future of energy. First, they have supermodels(!) in the coal mine, dressed in fake mining clothes.  Then, for the music - they used Tennessee Ernie Ford singing "Sixteen Tons"!!!!  OMG, I almost fell on the floor - a megacorporation using a song that is ANTI-COMPANY is beyond irony.

I think it only lasted about 3 days.  Then somebody must have looked up the lyrics.  I'll bet heads rolled over that one ...
To "Happy Peanuts Soar"--I am so glad not to be inside your head ;)
One more VW ad jingle if anyone can handle it--I love the "Birds and Bees" song in the VW Rabbit commercial, where the black and white Rabbits procreate every time they go through a tunnel.  It's a great concept, a catchy song and a cute-as-heck commercial :)
Heather in Hollywood, I agree that Dr. Pepper song is great.  I only saw the commercial once and I thought it was the best.
And I definately appreciate newer songs being used rather than replaying old worn songs (Sweet Home Alabama? Please.).
I must admit, I love the Bruce Campbell Old Spice "Hungry Like the Wolf" ads.  Admittedly, it's very specifically targeted for guys of a certain age with whom Mr. Campbell's comic machismo resonate.
* Annoying commercials:

"Crumbelievable" for Kraft cheese, I think.  I absolutely can't stand that one.

The Yoplait yogurt commercial with the girl wearing her Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.  They need to stop playing that one already!

All the car commercials with "Zoom zoom zoom."  Stupid, boring, and annoying!

Anything with "The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In."  Love the song, but I have a hard time seeing it being related to anything commercial/materialistic, as someone above said that it's about the Vietnam War.  It just doesn't seem right.

* Good commercials:

Pretty much anything by Target.  They must have an excellent advertisement firm, because the stunning visuals and music in their commercials match up so perfectly.  Too bad the store in itself is pretty much ordinary.

The Jamaica commercials using "One Love"...they really make me want to visit Jamaica for a vacation!

The current Snickers commercials always make me laugh.  I can see how the "Happy Peanut Song" would annoy some people, though.
How ironic is using a faux band, Spinal Tap, for a commercial - "Gimmie Some Money".  I'm not sure if the rest of the lyrics are as raunchy as some of Spinal Tap's are.
A few years ago, I think it was pissbury used "Look what they've done to my buns, ma".  Weird, the original lyrics go something like this... "Look what they've done to my song, ma. Turned it around and upside down..."
I can't stand commercials that use "You can't always get what you want".  I love the song, but when you play the same bit over and over and over again... I've stopped going to the mall since they started blasting ads for their gift cards with that song!
I can't stand that Snickers ad.  First off, if a weird-looking guy came up to me and said "can I help you *enjoy* that Snickers?", I would walk away as fast as possible.  Second, the first line sounds like "happy penis sore / over waterfalls..."  Everyone I know heard that the first time they heard the song.
I know I am supposed to be commenting on the music in commercials but that's not really why I am posting.  In the new Burger King commerical with people 'feeding their mustache', the scene with the four old women playing cards, they do a close up of the black woman with the mustache.  I just want to say that I find that part of the commercial hilarious because the woman looks just like my stepdad!!!  Haaa haaaa haaaaa!!!!!  Now I am sure the woman looks better in real life sans the facial hair but every time I see that commercial, I want to call my stepdad!!!  Oh yeah - and the music on the commercial stinks!
I like the Levi's commercial (at least I think it's Levis) done in black and white w/the man & woman walking towards each other in a straight line while a remake of Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line" plays.  Respectful, tasteful use of a classic!
I love the Snickers commercial! And I hate, despise, and loathe the Chase commercial with "Love is All Around" (The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song).
My absolute favorite shake-your-head, what were they thinking is the Mercury commercial where the guy plugs in his iPod and the music they play through the rest of the commercial is To The Nth Degree by Morningwood.  Seriously, did anyone ever listen to the lyrics?
The absolutely most annoying commercial with music is Centenial Cellular with "FREE FREE FREE FREE" over and over again, set to classical music.  It is the one commercial that will make me RUN for the remote to mute it, screaming, "Oh, my God....why do they have to have such an annoying commercial?"  I'm one of those people that complains with my pocketbook, so when I changed wireless companies in April, I never considered going with them.
Lowes had a campaign with Gene Hackman narrating over samples of Bruce Hornsby's "Gonna Be Some Changes Made". It wasn't until I heard the song on the radio, for more than thirty seconds, without Gene Hackman, that I realized it was a legitimate song and not just a short, but interesting, jingle Lowes had composed for the commercial. Hornsby's "Halcyon Days", the album from which it came, is now one of my favorite albums.


SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

TRACKBACKS

Trackbacks are links to weblogs that reference this post. Like comments, trackbacks do not appear until approved by us. The trackback URL for this post is: http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/trackback.aspx?PostID=245531

Syndicate This Site

Add Test Pattern to your news reader:
live.com xml
myyahoo msn
bloglines newsgator
google