Caddilac - break through! Songs turned into commercial jingles

[ElectricZ]

I was going to put this in the pit, but I decided I could maybe keep it clean and try to turn it into a support group.

Anyway, it’s something that makes my jaw clench every time I hear it. “Caddilac - break through!” says Gary Sinise. An then… dah-na-na NA-na-NA-na-NA na-na! It’s been a long time since I rock and rollllled!

What’s worse, anytime I hear “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin on the radio, on a CD, in winamp, or wherever, I have to turn it off. It’s been ruined forever. Not just because I’ve heard it too much (which is also true) but because another classic rock tune is being used to advertise the ultimate sellout machine.

I get the concept behind it, that the song talks about taking you back to when you were young, and they’re trying to appeal to people who grew up in the late 60’s/early 70’s who now have the bank accounts to support a Caddy… And those same people are longing for youth… But for some reason it makes me hate that song with a passion now!

Does anybody else find themselves punching a button whenever “Rock and Roll” comes on the air? Are there other songs that have been ruined for you in this way?

EZ

[Skywatcher]

In a similar vein, I think of Joe Pesci whenever I hear “Got to Get You in My Life”.

[RealityChuck]

Funny. I have heard various songs associated with odd commercials (“Come Together,” “Thick as a Brick,” “Happy Jack”), but it never ruins the song for me. I forget about the commercial quite quickly.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@ElectricZ

I was going to put this in the pit, but I decided I could maybe keep it clean and try to turn it into a support group.

Anyway, it’s something that makes my jaw clench every time I hear it. “Caddilac - break through!” says Gary Sinise. An then… dah-na-na NA-na-NA-na-NA na-na! It’s been a long time since I rock and rollllled!

What’s worse, anytime I hear “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin on the radio, on a CD, in winamp, or wherever, I have to turn it off. It’s been ruined forever. Not just because I’ve heard it too much (which is also true) but because another classic rock tune is being used to advertise the ultimate sellout machine.

EZ

God, I hate those Caddy commercials. The choice of music makes it so obvious that they’re marketing to a specific age cohort, and moreover implying that it’s impossible for anyone in that cohort to know or appreciate music any later than 1975.

[Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew]

@ElectricZ

Does anybody else find themselves punching a button whenever “Rock and Roll” comes on the air? Are there other songs that have been ruined for you in this way?

I hope there’s an especially nasty place in Hell reserved for the advertising executive who turned “Everyday People” into a Toyota jingle.

[percypercy]

I wanna try C2, but that doesn’t mean I want one of my favorite Stones songs turned into a jingle to hock it. Everytime I hear “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” start to play on the tv, my teeth grind.
-Lil

[xizor]

At one point in time, Like a Rock by Bob Seger was a good song. Now it is just a Chevy truck slogan.

[DaddyTimesTwo]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

God, I hate those Caddy commercials. The choice of music makes it so obvious that they’re marketing to a specific age cohort, and moreover implying that it’s impossible for anyone in that cohort to know or appreciate music any later than 1975.

The aim of using that song is to make those 50-ish yo folks long for their younger years when they were rebellious and care free and, well, young. And the staid middle age plus folks rebel by buying a Cadillac. Which, honestly doesn’t seem like much of a rebellion to me, but this is advertising not science.

I asked my brother, who will be 48 this year, if he ever imagined back in 1972 that the song he annoyed all the “old” folks with would be commercial for the cars those same “old” folks were driving. He said it was a little weird.