AUGUST, 2004
AUGUST, 2004 |
UNIQUETRACKS PRODUCTION MUSIC | Vol. 1 No. 3 |
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| August 23, 2004 | ISSN 1553-7765 | |
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Volume 1 No. 3 Subscribe to Underscore and receive 12 Free Rhythm Loops fully-licensed and downloadable to your desktop. This month's series of articles focuses on popular songs and how they are used by advertisers in TV commercials. Pop songs make very successful ad soundtracks but at what cost? Featured Articles
Featured Articles Under the Influence Since this newsletter is mainly about good soundtrack usage, you'd think I'd champion any effective scoring technique. Not so. There is one successful type of soundtrack that is also quite manipulative in my view. I'm talking about the now commonplace practice of using established popular hit songs in commercial advertising. Every soundtrack tries to stimulate viewer emotions. Its role is to amplify the meaning and effectiveness of a scene. However, using a popular hit song in a TV commercial is often more of an attempt by the advertiser to hijack the meaning of the song, and the history a listener has with it, and re-frame that onto the product being advertised. The song has nothing to do with the product. In most cases their messages are diametrically opposed. Case in point, the current Cadillac ad campaign that uses Led Zeppelin's song "Rock'n Roll".
Led Zeppelin's "Rock'n Roll", was originally released in 1971. It had absolutely nothing to do with driving a Cadillac or any type of corporate sponsorship. In fact, it's a song about sexual yearning. With its pumping rhythm, and forceful, driving vocal it uses “rock'n roll” in its original slang meaning (for sex). By using this song as their ad soundtrack, Cadillac is able to harvest the emotions and collective memory of millions of viewers who already have huge pre-existing associations with that song. They hope viewers will transfer that identification into positive feelings for the car. The ad is aimed at 40/50 year olds (Cadillac's main demographic) and promises a less encumbered, more spontaneous, and fun lifestyle. In short, it sells them back their youth.
Another example of simply cutting a few lines out of a song and grafting it onto an ad concept is Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' "Lust for Life" campaign. It uses the Iggy Pop/David Bowie song “Lust for Life”. I can't decide if this one is insidious or just stupid. Here's the campaign slogan –
But here is the first verse of the song...
This song is about using heroin! A fragment of a song about heroin use has been clipped out of its context and used to sell……cruise vacations! It's a total misrepresentation of the music (or perhaps Royal Caribbean has booked Johnny Yen to be activities director on its cruises).
Pop soundtracks in ad campaigns are highly effective. Led Zeppelin's “Rock'n Roll” has become the major branding tool for Cadillac's fleet. Chevy Truck has used Bob Segar's "Like A Rock" for over 15 years. Ad agencies are combing through 30 years of pop hits trying to get musical hooks that will act as slogans for their products. Songs attach a coolness to a product that no amount of ad copy can. At best this approach is simplistic rather than malicious or sinister. If the song has a lyrical refrain that matches an ad slogan then it is fair game to be clipped out of its context and laid into the ad to support the brand. It works, it sells stuff, but at what cost? Today, it seems nothing is off limits to advertisers. A famous photo of Gandhi is co-opted by Apple computer to sell iMacs. We are made to associate Queen's “We are the Champions” with Viagra, the Who's “Won't Get Fooled Again”” with Nissan Maxima, John Lennon's “Come Together” with Nortel Networks.
To survive and grow, all businesses must advertise. But are there limits? Are all images, icons, and songs now nothing more than available content to be reformulated to commercial advantage?
No Retreat, No Surrender When John Kerry took the podium to give his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention this July, he was accompanied by a recording of Bruce Springsteen singing the song "No Surrender" from the classic Born in the USA album.
The big message at the Democratic convention was “John Kerry=Strength”. Springsteen's song was chosen because together with the powerful driving music of the E Street Band, the song's lyrics created a strong, confident atmosphere in the convention hall. "Bruce Springsteen has it right. No retreat. No surrender. We are taking this fight to the country, and we are going to win back our democracy and our future," Kerry had said before arriving at the convention. The song “No Surrender” is not about the presidency, politics or Democrats. True, it celebrates strength, but it is the strength of the maverick, the independent, the kid who never fits in with the crowd. It is a song that gives the finger to the conventional and the mainstream. In "No Surrender" the singer longs for excitement, the exceptional - something wild. It begins...
To make the song fit their agenda, the Democratic Party had to re-cast it as a song about confidence and power. Snip, snip, lift the chorus, ignore the context and..instant campaign slogan. The Republican party will do the same thing but with artists that reflect their own values. A popular song will no doubt be used to elevate the emotional appeal of the important Republican themes (You can bet it won't be the music of Bruce Springsteen though. The Boss is planning an anti-Bush tour of the U.S. during the coming election season).
You Say You Want It all began with Nike's infamous use of the Beatles song “Revolution” in their 1987 ad campaign for the Air Max shoe. This commercial set the standard and supplies the blueprint for all commercials to follow.
In 1987 Reebok was the No. 1 sneaker company worldwide. Because of the "Revolution" ad campaign, which combined an exceptional Beatles performance with images of a young Michael Jordan wearing Nike Air shoes, Nike was able to regain the number 1 position. It has been there ever since. Phil Knight, Nike CEO remembers –
John Lennon wrote “Revolution” in 1968 while studying transcendental meditation in India with the Maharishi Mahesh.
Michael Jackson (the gloved one) who owns the publishing rights to most of the Beatles catalog licensed the song to Nike against the wishes of Paul McCartney. As Paul McCartney said when the Nike ads appeared… “the song was about revolution, not bloody tennis shoes.”
Tidbits, More Information All pop songs that are used in TV commercials must be licensed by the advertiser . Last month's Featured Article in addressed how the licensing process works. If you missed the article, you can read it here. Selling the Sizzle By Sara Minogue in Canada's Exclaim Magazine - Great article about the use of pop songs in commercials. Focuses on some younger bands and their feelings about licensing their music to advertisers. For some it's a smart career move. This article concludes with a list of bands and the commercials that feature their music. Here's a small sample... The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” for Nissan Pathfinder AdTunes - Great database of music used in TV ads. "What was the music used in that film teaser trailer?" Now you can find the answer at Adtunes.com - the weblog of information on music from TV ads, movie trailers, and more. Lyrics.com - great database of pop song lyrics Lyred.com - another good database of song lyrics. Apathy, Alienation, and Activism: American Culture and the Depoliticization of Youth a lecture by University of Michigan History Prof. Matt Lassiter given in January 2004. Discusses the commercialization of 1960s radicalism.
Your vote counts - please give me your feedback about this subject. It's easy, you don't have to leave your e-mail address, just write what you think about the use of pop music in advertisements. I'll publish your thoughts in the next issue of Underscore.
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