Friday, April 4, 2008

Top Five On Friday Week 169: Top 5 songs you wish had never been used in a TV commercial

From Music Memoirs, this week's topic is inspired by Polly. Top 5 songs you wish had never been used in a TV commercial.

1. "Revolution" by The Beatles (used in a 1988 Nike ad)










2. "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye (used in several commercials. One ad that left a bad taste in my mouth was for Lunchables feat. a young boy and girl in a school cafeteria)













3. "This Is the Day" by The The (used in commercials for Dockers and M&M's)









4. "The Weight" by The Band (feat. in commercials for Diet Coke and Cingular/AT&T Wireless)










5. "One Way or Another" by Blondie (used in commercials for the Swiffer Wet Jet)













7 comments:

Mrs. Brownstone @ XBOX Wife said...

I KNOW!!! It bugs me so much when a song is almost ruined because you have to associate it with a bad commercial! Great list!

The Mistress of the Dark said...

We shared Revolution on our lists. Mine was mostly Beatles tunes, because those are always so poorly done.

Thanks for playing Malcolm. I forgot about the Blondie....Devo made my honorable mention I think it was for Swiffer too :(

ShannonW said...

I also forgot about Blondie...the song is not that bad but not for a Swiffer commercial!

Polly said...

I have to agree with all of your picks. And Swiffer got DEVO too. EEEK! I'll have to rant about the use of Beatles tunes, because when they aren't the original versions, the covers they use usually are not that great.

And some songs just DO NOT FIT what they are selling. It's just silly really.

Anonymous said...

Imagine my horror while baking in the kitchen and hearing Wilco's "The Thanks I Get" on TV. I run in and oh, my God, it's a commercial for a goshdamned VW. VW has REALLY plundered the Wilco library. Jeff Tweedy ought to be ashamed.

Also, hearing Iggy Pop (oh, my hero) belting out "Lust for Life" for a stupid MINIVAN! Yeah, that ground me.

The song escapes me, but Ozzy pitching for Cadillac made me weep.

And let's not forget the whorish Mr. Elvis Costello (!!!) appearing for Lexus.

Yeah, it annoys hell out of me. Revolution was the first one though. I remember exactly where I was when I saw that commercial. Ugh.

moodymistress said...

I bet everyone put Revolution on their list. :) I know I did, because it was just so wrong.

Malcolm said...

Mrs. Brownstone: Thanks! A song about sex (Let's Get It On) has no place in a commercial feat. grade school kids. I think somebody finally came to their senses because the commercial seemed to disappear quickly.

Mistress of the D: There are just certain songs (The Beatles and Motown for example) that should be off limits when it comes to commercials.

Swiffer seems to have the market cornered on using new wave tunes from the late 70s/early 80s. I wonder which one they will dig up next.

Shannon: I agree. I can't remember what I used to think of before when I heard "One Way or Another", but I can guarantee you that it had nothing to do with housecleaning.

Polly: Even though I might not like it, I can at least understand when it at least makes sense why a company chooses to use a certain song. But there are some where I'm left scratching my head.

Amy: On one hand, it bothers me when artists such as Iggy Pop allow their music to be used in commercials. On the other hand, it must be difficult to turn down the insane money that they are offered.

MoodyMistress: Although lots of commercials used pop songs in the past, I think it the Nike ad feat. "Revolution" was the first time that this practice really got under the skin of a lot of people.

 
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