Comments on: Calculating the Moby Quotient

By: Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 23:13:23 +0000

I’m 24. Are people my age in charge of music buys yet? No. But I didn’t grow up with The Smiths and The Cure, I grew up with The Strokes and Nada Surf. The gen X demographic who first noticed The Smiths is certainly the old enough to be in positions of power at ad agencies. If you were 16 when the debut single, ‘Hand in Glove’, was released in 1983, that makes you 40 now. Certainly old enough.

By: goatchowder

goatchowder — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:12:14 +0000

No! People are age are not in charge of music buys.

People our age are the TARGET MARKET for these products!

These ad agencies want to get the attention of people in the proper age range with money to buy these products. That means, us. So they are buying up the rights to our teenage years.

These songs have special emotional meaning to us. They are using them in these ads, to connect that emotion with their product. It is Pavolv, quite simply.

It works very, very well.

When Baby Boomers were the same age as we are now, the ad agencies were buying up the rights to Stones and Beatles songs. Now they’re buying up the rights to The Smiths and The Cure. It is not surprising.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:45:34 +0000

I like Royskopp’s “Remind Me” in the Gieco Airport Caveman commercial.

By: sd

sd — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 19:21:27 +0000

Charlie makes a good point. I understand why most have to sell. It makes me happy for them, on one hand… & happy for myself that I foudn them before that ad moguls did…

What about The Weepies in both JCPenney’s AND Old Navy commercials?

By: Spoon and Bob Schneider

Spoon and Bob Schneider — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:13:10 +0000

Anyone familiar with Spoon will reacognize that their tracks are now featured in just about every movie and tv show on the planet. They often just loop a guitar riff over and over without playing the whole song, but Stranger than Fiction, Chuck, Fast Food Nation, Waiting…

Bob Schneider, another Austin, TX musician has had his songs show up in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Miss Congeniality, 40 days and 40 nights…

By: Molly

Molly — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:06:53 +0000

I am a big Of Montreal fan and it does make me cringe whenever I hear that Outback song. Mainly because Outback SUCKS. Not that it would be much better if it were for something “cooler”.

I don’t mind as much when a song is used in a music-related commercial, like the ITunes commercials. It can be a great way for a band to promote their music.

What does bother me a little is the lack of ingenuity in advertising: what ever happened to the ever-present brand jingle? I can’t even think of a real jingle anymore; the closest thing I can get are jingles for local carpet companies, or maybe the three-note McDonalds “jingle.” Instead of jingles, they just use a song someone else wrote, that usually has nothing to do with the product being sold.

What REALLY irks me, and has been mentioned on here, is that Iggy Pop “Lust for Life” song on the cruise commercial. Iggy was a fearless performer and overall a crazy bastard. Now when I hear him I think of fat suburbanites in a buffet line.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 06:33:20 +0000

Thanks Matthew. I will explain why my post is at 3:00 AM and that is because I am stationed in Iraq and it was sometime in mid afternoon when I made my comment. I also just remembered that the group “Trio” sold “DA DA DA” to VW. Another great song. I am posting this at 9:33AM January 2nd.

By: Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:11:57 +0000

plus, you gotta LOVE the dedication of the mental_floss readers who posted comments for this blog at 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM on new years!!!

By: Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:35:18 +0000

Carlos and Stewart help make a great point with the reactions “huh. people my age are in charge of music buys at ad agencies now” and “does that mean we are getting old now?”
i guess this type of cultural sea change can occur with every generation, particularly in the music and entertainment industries. In a great essay on electronica music in television commercials, Timothy D. Taylor recalls sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s “new petit bourgeoisie”. This was a new generation of advertisers that first put pop music in television commercials in the 1980’s and put an end to the widespread practice of commercial jingles. It seems as if, once again, a new generation has displaced this group, around the mid to late 90’s, introducing the music of their youth.

also, check out the site http://www.adtunes.com for discussion and updates about music in commercials.

By: Rita

Rita — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:12:29 +0000

One of my favourite examples of so-called “selling out” is the Cadillac commercial with “Punkrocker” by Teddybears feat. Iggy Pop. Nothing says punk rock like Cadillac cars.