When distractingly watching TV, I saw a Honda commercial for their new Accord, and, to my surprised ears, I recognized ‘The only living boy in New York’, by Simon and Garfunkel.
I thought Simon was against this, since in 1993, during an interview with David Letterman, he talked about refusing an offer from Midas, which wanted to use ‘Sounds of Silence’. ‘There is no offer that would tempt me, I deeply resent it’ he said:
er,…I suppose he changed his mind. I wonder what his intentions were, it cannot be for money…obviously!
I don’t really appreciate when a song I like is used to sell a product, of course it cheapens the art, it produces an association in your head you don’t necessarily want to exist. It ruins everything! I used to know someone who didn’t own a TV just for that reason, a little extreme, but he was a purist.
It’s incredible the amount of good music which has sold cars and other products
When Michael Jackson authorized the use of ‘Revolution’ from the Beatles for Nike, it was the beginning (or was it just a continuity?) of a large use of good music used for commercials, and since there is an endless list of popular songs used in commercials. They all are selling out!
Iman wrote an exhaustive post detailing nearly 100 songs used in commercials on this website last year. Some of the most famous ones I remember:
Iggy Pop (‘Lust for life’) for Royal Caribbean,
Bob Dylan (‘Lovesick’) for Victoria’s Secret (that was a weird one)
The Rolling Stones (‘Start me up’) and Madonna (‘Ray of light’) for Microsoft: The stones got big money as usual.
Fleetwood Mac (‘Go Your Own Way’) for National Car rental
Sting (‘Desert Rose’) for Jaguar
The Clash (‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’) for Levi Strauss and Pontiac
Donovan (‘Mellow Yellow’) a French exclusive using a modified version of the song to promote Lipton tea (‘They call me Lipton Yellow’).
The Smiths (‘How Soon Is Now?’) for Nissan Maxima
The Kinks (‘Picture Book’) for HP digital photography
Feist (‘1234’) for iPod nano
Nick Drake (‘Blanket’) for AT&T
I kind of make peace with the whole thing, actually it can even introduce an old classic to a new generation or ironically benefit more the artist than the product.