Fraters Libertas

Corporate Stooges

Lately, I have noticed that a lot of really good songs have been co-opted by various companies for use on television ads. AT&T Wireless is using the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop”. The latest Royal Caribbean Cruise ad features Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life”. Then there’s the crappy cover version of the Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together” in the new Sheraton ads. When I saw the Kohl’s ad with The Modern Lovers’ “Ice Cream Man”, I damn near dropped my drink again (this time it was Bombay Sapphire straight up with a jalapeno stuffed olive...yummy).

My initial reaction to this, being somewhat of a music purist, was disgust. How could these artists that I love stoop so low as to become corporate shills? Iggy and the Ramones selling vacation cruises and cell phones?!?! Punk music was supposed to be the antithesis of corporate America. Screw the man, bollocks to the Queen, up yours to the nine to five workaday world and all that.

As I thought about it, however, I realized that I’d rather hear a good song in an ad rather than a piece of utter dreck (e.g. Celine Dion selling Chryslers). This feeling was solidified when I saw a Target ad that featured a new version of “Complicated Fun”, a great tune by Minneapolis punkers The Suicide Commandos. The Target version even features John Freeman from another local great, The Magnolias. How cool is that? The Commandos and the Mags are probably two of the most underrated bands that hail from the Twin Cities. While bands like Husker Du, The Replacements and Soul Asylum got all of the national notice, the Commandos put out a couple brilliant high powered releases and the Magnolias remain one of the best bands that I have ever seen live. The fact that I can hear even thirty seconds of new sounds from these guys makes me positively giddy (I’ve used the words yummy and giddy in the same post...sorry).

I consider myself quite adept at TV surfing. When it’s commercial break time, I instinctively reach for the remote and click to any channel that doesn’t subject me to mother and daughter discussions about those “not so fresh” feelings, Carrot Top and Alf extolling the virtues of 1-800-Collect or Rafael Palmeiro hitting a home run with Viagra and return to the show I was watching without missing a second of action. Now, I find myself lingering just a few seconds after the screen turns black on the off chance that I’ll catch that Target ad. I couldn’t care less about Target, I just want to hear the tune.

I guess what disturbs me most about these ads is the lack of creativity in today’s advertising firms. There once was a time when advertisements featured original songs, slogans and jingles. Alka-Seltzer had “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz oh what a relief it is”. Burger King promised us that we could have it our way, McDonald’s told us that we deserve a break today and Clara Peller put Wendy’s on the map (and Walter Mondull, thankfully, out of the White House) with the phrase “Where’s the beef?”.

As an architect, a similarly creative field, it irritates me that these guys can just take an existing piece of music and make it their own. Where’s the effort in that? You never saw Darrin Stevens pitching “These Boots are Made for Walkin’” to Larry Tate as an idea for the Thompson Shoe account. Get off your butts and do something original. But if you have to steal, let me hear the Sex Pistols’ “Holidays in the Sun” on the next Royal Caribbean Cruise ad. My clicking finger could use a break.