By Allie Cooper
Pop music has been used to punt products almost since the genre came into being. In the 1960s, Coca-Cola hired artists the caliber of The Shirelles, Jan & Dean, and Roy Orbison to perform their jingles, many of which were released as singles. This strategy culminated in perhaps the most famous ad music of all, The New Seekers I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing, which eventually went on to sell 12 million copies.
Fast forward to the 1980s, and the ad men struck upon the idea of licensing existing tracks for TV campaigns. 1988 saw The Beatles’ Revolution on a Nike Air commercial. The 30-second short showed amateur athletes diverting from their prior strategies of featuring pros like tennis player Ilie Nastase and the as-yet-to-be-GOAT Michael Jordan.
The relationship between artist and agency isn’t always easy. Having your music on an Levi’s commercial in 1990s England came on the understanding that your single would sell by the barrowload, but your band would cease to be taken seriously at that point. While Levi’s managed to survive due to being a mainly US concern (perhaps the equivalent of George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio doing TV ads in Japan, away from potentially judgmental eyes), the CD singles of Babylon Zoo’s Spaceman and Stiltskin’s Inside continue to clutter the bargain bins of second-hand record stores to this very day. While we’re used to seeing Snoop sell everything from Skechers to Corona, it’s the man, not his music, that’s showcased.
The current generation of musicians seems more practical than precious about their art. The Cure is enjoying a second renaissance, headlining 2023”s Riot Fest after a 30-date US tour. However, back in 2003, they were without a label, and Robert Smith – who swore blind he’d never do such a thing – licensed In Between Days to Fiat to raise the revenue to wrest copyright control of his songs back from Polydor. One of the biggest draws to Chicago this summer was Turnstile, and by comparison, the current landscape of minimal revenue from recorded music (physical or streaming) and the increasing cost of touring meant they had few qualms about letting Taco Bell use Holiday in a commercial on TikTok.
Whether a commercial breaks an artist – or breaks an artist – or gives a second life to something perhaps overlooked the first time around, some stick long after the campaign’s done.
Nick Drake: Pink Moon – Volkswagen
When Drake passed in 1974, he left behind only three LPs, little listened to in his lifetime. However, as the decades passed, his delicate folk started to spread around England by word of mouth. In 1999, The Guardian named his Bryter Later the ‘best alternative LP of all time’. That year, Volkswagen captured that posthumous zeitgeist just at the right time. The NorCal setting, the fact the brand was seen as European and somewhat more cosmopolitan than American cars appealed to the college-grad sector who had been turned on to bands like Belle And Sebastian, who owed more than a debt of thanks to Drake. In 1999, Drake’s US album sales were 6,000; by the end of 2000 they were 74,000.
Celeste: One Love – Oakley
Some artists and some songs are timeless. This cover of Bob Marley’s classic rewrites some of the verses to emphasize the on-screen message of family and determination. While it’s designed to have you buy sunglasses from Oakley, there’s more on offer. Singer Celeste was hand-picked by the Marley family for the ad. Born in the US of Jamaican heritage, she now lives in the UK, matching the story of Bob and his descendants. A wide range of their lenses are shown, from the O-Frame BMX goggles that first launched the company to the tinted visors they make for NFL superstars now – perhaps a nod to Rohan Marley, who played linebacker for the Miami Hurricanes.
Yuna: Strawberry Letter 23 – H&M
If one thinks back to the late 90s, when long-forgotten classics from the psychedelic age were being reissued by the dozen, perhaps the most important to come out was Shuggie Otis’ Inspiration Information. When David Byrne’s Luaka Bop imprint put it together with four cuts (including this one) from his earlier Freedom Flight LP in 2001, the guitarist hadn’t released anything since its original outing in 1974. A classic of California soul, the commercial leans into the song, showing a sun-drenched L.A. street scene. The cover, by Malaysian singer Yuna, is faithful to the original; it didn’t need to be anything but.
Feist: 1234 – Apple
When singer-songwriter Feist licensed this track to an iPod campaign in 2007, she was already fairly well known in indie circles. She’d collaborated with Buck 65 and Kings Of Convenience. 2004’s Let It Die had gone platinum in her native Canada. Mushaboom had been used by Lacoste. After 2007? She sang with Elmo, chickens, and penguins on Sesame Street. Can there be anything cooler?
