# Are you SURE that's the song you want, commercial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [July 21, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528 "2024-07-21T14:05:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/1 "2024-07-21T14:05:28Z")
I didn’t think anything would beat that cruise line’s use of Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life which, as far as I knew up until then, was a musical appreciation of heroin. Now I’m hearing Pandora (the jewelry people) using the Bee Gee’s To Love Somebody behind visuals of loving couples giving each other jewelry. This song is about unrequited love, no? Still, it’s not worse than Mercedes Benz’ unironic use of that Janis Joplin song. Or Wrangler’s Fortunate Son ads. Why can’t all commercials use songs I wish I had heard before like Meta something’s use of The Puzzle Song? I liked the song so much I had to look it up. It’s by the same woman who sang The Name Game. Or Heinekin’s The Astral Age. Hey, maybe this should be a thread about good songs you first heard in commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/2 "2024-07-21T14:49:31Z")
“Feel It Still” isn’t in my preferred genre of music, but it makes me happy to remember Aaron Paul dancing on a treadmill. For that reason I dig it. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/3 "2024-07-21T14:56:41Z")
Using the Pogues If I Should Fall from Grace of God for a Subaru ad? This drink and drug fueled Irish folk punk song about death, really? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/B4v6aNjGFFk/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AGMBYAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgSyhYMA8=&rs=AOn4CLC6_GK-hLZwCDCWXAyvDhIxSc7G6Q "The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4v6aNjGFFk) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/4 "2024-07-21T15:09:02Z")
The Astral Plane curtesy of Heineken. Finger’s crossed this’ll post. I’m so hit or miss with YouTube links here. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cEsaocaNixM/hqdefault.jpg "Heineken The Asteroids Galaxy Tour") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEsaocaNixM) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/5 "2024-07-21T15:17:12Z")
I’m disappointed that Frigidaire hasn’t done commercials featuring this excerpt from the Cramps’ song “TV Set”: _Oh baby I see you in my Frigidaire Yeah baby I see you in my Frigidaire Behind the mayonnaise, way in the back I’m gonna see you tonight for a midnight snack But though it’s cold You won’t get old 'Cause you’re well preserved in my Frigidaire_ ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/6 "2024-07-21T15:18:21Z")
I once saw a commercial for Marshall’s using The Pom-Poms’ “Watch Me”, a song I doubt most people are familiar with. But the refrain goes… _Keep on lookin’ if you’re looking for unique_ _‘Cause I’m an Ambercrombie-lookin’ ass bitch_ _And I don’t give a fuck_ …which felt amusing to use for a Marshall’s commercial on multiple levels. (Obviously they didn’t play that part during the commercial) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/7 "2024-07-21T15:24:03Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > …which felt amusing to use for a Marshall’s commercial on multiple levels. (Obviously they didn’t play that part during the commercial) As I was thinking on this OP, I thought about all the commercial songs that cut off before it gets to the ‘good’ part but couldn’t think of any specific examples. Still can’t. One will pop into my head in the middle of the night tonight and I’ll be all, “Of course!” and my husband won’t even look my way because he’s almost as used to my weird brain as I am. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/8 "2024-07-22T12:20:52Z")
Apple Phone used the Pixies “Gigantic” for an ad. As HuffPo said, they should have read the lyrics first. > **[Apple Should Have Read The Lyrics Before Putting This Song In An Ad](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/apple-commercial_n_5198788)** > > Apple Should Have Read The Lyrics Before Putting This Song In An Ad ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/9 "2024-07-22T13:08:27Z")
Disney used a snippet from Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” in the trailers for _The Tigger Movie_, apparently unaware that it’s a song about crystal meth addiction: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/U3_CAyOG1uU/maxresdefault.jpg "The Tigger Movie Blu Ray Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3_CAyOG1uU) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/10 "2024-07-22T13:18:02Z")
I suspect that the companies know exactly what they’re doing. The average ad viewer will completely miss the inobvious, while the “cool” people will talk about it. That’s a win-win situation from their point of view. It’s an interesting advertising tactic. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/11 "2024-07-22T13:26:28Z")
Yeah, I don’t particularly care what the song is “about,” just how it makes me feel. It wasn’t until this thread that I even paid attention to what “Gigantic’s” lyrics seem to be about, and I’ve been a Pixies fan since the early 90s and heard that song about a bazillion times. It’s a fun, exuberant song. (And one shouldn’t really pay too much attention to Pixies lyrics, anyway, being as abstract as they can be.) Semi-Charmed Life is similar, but I’ve been aware of what that song is about (crystal meth is explicitly mentioned in the lyrics, but they go by so fast, you may miss it.) It’s a similarly peppy song with upbeat-lyrics if taken out of context. That’s fine for selling product. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/12 "2024-07-22T13:32:11Z")
Yeahbut-- the Pandora commercial is counting on people at least half-way listening to the lyrics, no? And giving a gift symbolizing “love” while saying “you don’t know what it’s like to love somebody like I love you” is I guess a way to sell jewelry-- to creepy stalker guys. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/13 "2024-07-22T17:08:44Z")
I’ve long thought that Microsoft’s use of the Rolling Stones song _Start Me Up_ for one of their Windows iterations was kind funny. Yeah, I get it – after versions of Windows that often caused the BSOD, they wanted to emphasize that when you started up this version, it would never stop. But whenever I sang along I went on to the “You make a grown man cry” part. Way too many MS products have elicited tears from users. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/14 "2024-07-22T18:02:05Z")
> [@anny\_m](#): > > But whenever I sang along I went on to the “You make a grown man cry” part. Way too many MS products have elicited tears from users. Yeah, Microsoft really were rather going for the “You make a dead man come” line… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/15 "2024-07-22T18:25:28Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I suspect that the companies know exactly what they’re doing. The average ad viewer will completely miss the inobvious, while the “cool” people will talk about it. That’s a win-win situation from their point of view There is also a generational thing going on the rebellious young folk of yesteryears, who like listening to controversial music about sex and drugs which shocks their elders, are now boring middle aged people with money to spend (and boring middle aged people running marketing firms). So it’s their music that’s going in commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/16 "2024-07-22T22:29:03Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > good songs you first heard in commercials I first heard Minnie Riperton’s “[Les Fleurs](https://youtu.be/g1kDd6yBQZ4?si=NXeUmcJyzVRfXJJB)” (1970) in a 2019 Microsoft Surface commercial. I was immediately obsessed (with that particular song; I already knew “Lovin’ You”), and still listen to it often. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/17 "2024-07-22T22:38:39Z")
So pretty! ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/18 "2024-07-23T01:05:26Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > Apple Phone used the Pixies “Gigantic” for an ad. As HuffPo said, they should have read the lyrics first. And that was just a few years after they used an “anti-consumerist anthem” in another iPhone ad: > **[Song bashing "corporate enablers" used to move iPhones](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2009/05/song-basing-corporate-enablers-used-to-move-iphones/)** > > The Submarines' song "You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie" has become ubiquitous … ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-sure-thats-the-song-you-want-commercial/1004528/19 "2024-07-23T01:41:31Z")
And then there’s Microsoft basing the entire advertising campaign of its most important product launch ever around the Stones’ Start Me Up, a song with the lyrics, “You make a dead man cum.” For some reason, that was never listed as a bullet point on the Windows 95 retail box.