Rockin Trend in Advertising

Jackie Mason | July 15, 2005
[hidden by request]

Amy Austin | July 15, 2005
Yes, I just saw this commercial last night, in fact. But I thought it was cool more for the concept (which the song illustrated very nicely) than for the music. If I'm going to be forced to listen to classic rock in advertising, that one is a very good pick -- I've always really liked that song. However -- being from Jacksonville Beach, Florida -- "Free Bird" (or any other Lynnard Skynnard, for that matter) is *not* a favorite, so... although it sounds like a nice thought, Jackie... I have to disagree! ;-)

I'd also have to say that I find this particular "trend" more appealing than the use of songs or bits of songs from movie soundtracks in the car commercials... I am about sick of hearing the one from "Kill Bill" used by Jaguar (I think), and I find it utterly blasphemous to hear the background from "Hands that Built America" in... Subaru's other ones (again, I think). It really doesn't make me happy to associate a car commercial with one of the most poignant movie moments (in my opinion!): (link)

Erik Bates | July 15, 2005
[hidden by request]

Jackie Mason | July 16, 2005
[hidden by request]

Amy Austin | July 16, 2005
Hehe -- or maybe it really is... "think you can afford this car??? Dream on!!!"

Scott Hardie | July 18, 2005
I'm at the age where the music of my youth is beginning to enter the realm of "classic" rock and my favorite musicians are getting inducted into halls of fame with 25-year eligibility requirements. What concerns me during this time is not how creepy it is to hear my favorite band on a so-called oldies station, but whether I will continue to listen to them when I'm twice this age. I'm not about to knock anybody for listening to the same bands/albums/songs for decades at a time – I have worn precisely the same outfit and haircut since I was a high-school senior and I have zero intention of ever changing them :-) – but I just can't keep listening to the same music forever. It bores me. I know that most Metallica fans consider their latest recordings to pale in comparison to their legendary 80s albums (that's putting it mildly), but can anybody still listen to Puppets or Lightning and genuinely get a thrill out of them? I've heard them both hundreds of times and they simply hold no new discoveries for me. I don't buy today's brand new music to be hip or relevant, but to hear new things so that I don't get bored. Am I the only one?

Scott Hardie | July 18, 2005
Incidentally, I can't wait to hear "One" in a fucking Cadillac commercial.

Scott Hardie | July 24, 2005
Doesn't anybody have a comment? There have to be some classic rock fans on here. I'm not trying to challenge your tastes; yours are as valid as mine. But I do wonder what appeal classic rock continues to have after hearing it so many times, and I was hoping someone here could help me understand.

Kris Weberg | July 24, 2005
I tend to think that the more experimental stuff now considered "classic" holds up better than comparatively "gnre-bound" rock.

The Beatles, to use the hackneyed example, probably have at least one song for any listener. Why? Eclecticism, deliberate musical variety, that's why.

Too, rock music, in purely "musical" terms, was probably at its most complex in the mid-60s-to-late-70s period. I like Metallica, and plenty of other, later bands, but I honestly think there's just not as much actually going on in most bands' music or the lyrics after a certain point in time.

Jackie Mason | July 25, 2005
[hidden by request]

Aaron Shurtleff | July 26, 2005
Gosh, maybe it's just because I am so full of rage, but I sure do enjoy the same Metallica songs I always have. :) And Slayer? *sigh*
For me, the music takes me back. I enjoy hearing the same "oldies" over and over because it reminds of me of past times. I can hear certain songs, and they remind of the good times I had, the bad times, the old double-jointed ex-, the ex- who came over with the two joints, whatever. The newer music holds nothing for me. I've reached the point in my life where I also feel a boredom, but it's bored with "new" music. I feel like everything new is a variation on what was done before. And I can freely accept that even the music I enjoy and grew up with is only a variation on what someone else did previously, but I have the memories that tie those songs to me.
Or I just could have anger management issues, as I mentioned previously. :)
Ever since the first ciliated organisms beat their cilia in rhythm, music has been all downhill! :P
Oh, and Jackie, if you think you feel like a dork, how do you think I feel when I still pull out the old Def Leppard vinyl albums? :) Well, OK, my turntable is broken, so I don't listen to them any more, but I still have them! That's something! :)

Amy Austin | July 26, 2005
I've really missed your postings, Aaron -- you crack me up. And "oldie" music is about exactly the same thing for me (not your ex-es... but the joints ;-D) -- it just brings back good memories. I think it's like a rite of passage or something to become "bored with 'new' music" by your thirties? Are "old" and "dorky" just completely inescapable??? :-p

I also know that I have anger management issues... but I can only think of one way that Def Leppard on vinyl would help, and unfortunately, that would be a once-only therapy! ;-D (The only way I would be happy listening to "Rock of Ages" or "Photograph" is at a roller rink, and you can just *forget* about "Pour Some Sugar on Me"... even when the Gators *do* make it to New Orleans!!!)

Scott Horowitz | July 26, 2005
When do they use "Call Me" to advertise the Bunny Ranch?

Aaron Shurtleff | July 26, 2005
Amy, it's OK if songs make you think of my ex-es! I'm totally over them.
Most of them.
A couple of them, at least. :)

Amy Austin | July 26, 2005
;-P

Scott Hardie | July 29, 2005
Thanks for the answers, y'all. That's what I was hoping to read.

I must be aging too, because I'm experiencing increasingly strong urges to shout at teenagers to comb their hair and tuck in their shirts and keep the noise down. So far I can control myself but I don't know how much longer it will be till I'm rolling down the window beside them at an intersection or getting up to approach their table at a restaurant. It would probably help if I had been more like that myself as a teenager so that today I could feel like I was paying penance for it, but I distinctly remember being embarrassed as a teen when my friends turned obnoxious in public, and I'm sure Lori recalls a few of those incidents too. It's as if I have hated it all this time and after more than a decade I'm just plain fed up with it and no longer care to tolerate. Man, turning into a Republican is going to be really hard on me.

Jackie Mason | July 29, 2005
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | July 30, 2005
No kidding. Some people aren't made for growing up.

Aaron Shurtleff | August 1, 2005
Well, I've still mooned people into my 30's, so I guess I'm one of the immature folks! But the other stuff, that's not me...except maybe the drinking...and the partying crazy style...and I do go out every night.....um...forget I said anything! How do you edit? :)

Scott Hardie | October 15, 2005
I didn't say it when this discussion began, but when "Houses of the Holy" came up in my CD changer a moment ago, I realized it once again: Led Zeppelin has been ruined for me. I can't hear Robert Plant's wailing voice without a goddamn Cadillac commercial playing in my head. I'm sure that was one goal of the marketing firm, but instead it has forced me to take my Zep CDs out of rotation so I don't have to put up with it. Thanks, Cadillac.