# Does Anyone Else Find A New Song From a Commercial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467 "2019-01-09T14:41:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/1 "2019-01-09T14:41:30Z")
I’ve gotten about 6-7 new songs on my iPod just from watching a commercial. The first one was way back in 1993, when Volkwagen used a Clannad song for the Passat. Back then I had to call to find out what the song is. My latest is from the Apple iPhone ad, _Come Along_ by Cosmo Sheldrake. It was much easier to Google that one. Anyone else discover a new tune from a commercial? ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/2 "2019-01-09T15:05:25Z")
I do that quite often. One of my favorite discoveries is “Have Love Will Travel” by the Sonics. It was on a car commercial a few years ago. I can’t even remember what car it was advertising. I had never heard the song or the group. I had to look it up. It’s one of my favorites now. A lot of the time I’ll hear a song on a commercial that I know but never cared that much about when it was popular. For some reason hearing it on a commercial gives it new life and I find myself really liking it. “America” by Simon & Garfunkel is a good example of that. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/3 "2019-01-09T15:39:58Z")
The first one for me was Let Me Be Myself, Geico caveman ad. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/4 "2019-01-09T15:52:19Z")
Oh, yes, my iTunes has several songs I bought after first hearing them in commercials. In a weird meta- aspect, a few of them were first heard on Apple commercials for iPods. Car commercials also tend to yield up good tunes. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/5 "2019-01-09T15:52:26Z")
The fact that advertisers occasionally use good songs doesn’t surprise me - they are trying to attract my attention, after all. But I am sometimes surprised by the songs they choose. Viz: Ford Transit Van: Disseminated by Soul Coughing. Go (as they say) figure. First time I had ever heard _anything_ by Soul Coughing. So, thanks. Hyundai: I’m Sticking With You by The Velvet Underground. A little oddity sung by Mo Tucker that I had not previously heard. Other songs that I know well but was still surprised by: Another Girl Another Planet by The Only Ones was used by Vodaphone Reptilia by the Strokes is being used currently, I think for a holiday company. j ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/6 "2019-01-09T16:01:47Z")
With the decline in record sales and radio going by the wayside, getting your track in a commercial or in a TV show or movie is a huge thing for artists now! The labels or even better yet the independent artists’ managers are pushing these relationships. It’s super great for the artists when people buy music they hear on commercials. Go you guys! I actually can’t think of anything I’ve bought after hearing it in a commercial. Usually the stuff that catches my ear are songs I already own and I’m like “hey cool, Lizzo got another check!” I do quite often find new music by hearing the artist perform it on a talk show. So there’s that. _The Colbert Report_ was great for exposing me to new bands. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/7 "2019-01-09T16:02:19Z")
I go the other way and find a snappy new song and then, a week later, hear it in a commercial. Then I need to fight the hipster-lizard part of my brain telling me that the song is ruined 'cause now _everyone_ is hearing it. Fortunately, age has taught me that no one except me gives a shit what I’m listening to anyway. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/8 "2019-01-09T16:20:52Z")
I have a positive association with Portugal the Man’s Feel It Still, because I liked the commercial with Aaron Paul dancing on a treadmill. Then there was another commercial with people discussing the song, so I was able to identify it. Unfortunately for those folks, I can’t identify what the ad was for. I still haven’t heard the song in it’s entirety, but that’s okay. For a hidebound old lady like me, just recognizing a “new” song is unusual. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/9 "2019-01-09T16:27:44Z")
Budweiser used a lovely version of Stand by Me for their Super Bowl commercial. I grabbed that one too. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/10 "2019-01-09T18:03:34Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > … > > Reptilia by the Strokes is being used currently, I think for a holiday company. > > j You’re probably thinking of the latest TUI ad, in which case it’s “Sometimes” by The Strokes. The one I remember first hearing in an ad is “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros used in a Peugeot ad. There have been others, and luckily there are web sites that list ads and the songs used in them, otherwise I’m sure I’d never have identified half of them. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/11 "2019-01-09T18:08:13Z")
I discovred betty who thanks to shoe dazzle ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/12 "2019-01-09T18:19:39Z")
Sure. I’ve listened very little to radio or radio-equivelent services for more than 15 years, so hearing songs in the background of commercials/movies/TV shows is where pretty much all of my exposure to new (and “new to me”) music comes from. Two songs that immediately come to mind that I picked up from commercials are [_Beep! Beep!_](https://youtube.com/watch?v=S_fzsH0-Rdo) (car commercial) and [_Forever Young_](https://youtube.com/watch?v=IGAVwQAmAHs) (don’t remember.) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/13 "2019-01-09T19:10:03Z")
Odetta - Hit or Miss I first heard it in a… Smirnoff? commercial. (barrel bodied middle-age guy in a speedo walking down a beach with zero-Fs given.) I love the song but can’t get into her other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/14 "2019-01-09T19:27:33Z")
Oh yes, all the time. Some semi-recent examples: [Suit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C3uRqjA8UE) by Boom! Bap! Pow! [Can’t Get it Right Today](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IikEuzPINy4) by Joe Purdy [Je Ne Te Connais Pas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA5tW2JxnHg) by The Prototypes ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/15 "2019-01-09T20:17:20Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > You’re probably thinking of the latest TUI ad, in which case it’s “Sometimes” by The Strokes… Aha - you’re right. I stand corrected. j ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/16 "2019-01-09T21:07:02Z")
It’s from 1997, so not “new,” but new in the sense that I discovered the song from the commercial! [Da Da Da by Trio in the Volkswagen commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdccNAOvPHg) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/17 "2019-01-09T22:01:28Z")
Yes, but I’m too embarrassed to admit it. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/18 "2019-01-09T22:39:56Z")
A few years back some video game (maybe Call of Duty?) commercial used a remake of “Mad World” that was haunting instead of the pop sounding Tears For Fears version. I tracked it down and it is now my preferred version. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/19 "2019-01-09T22:59:03Z")
Yes, back in the early 2000s, [_Breathe_ by Telepopmusik](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyut3GyQtn0) was used in a car commercial. I latched onto it pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467/20 "2019-01-09T23:00:53Z")
2008 Brandi Carlile: The Story GM Olympics commericial: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPT0UQ-4gog) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-a-new-song-from-a-commercial/827467.md?page=2)