# Most horrifying use of music in a commercial **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012 "2005-11-21T01:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/21 "2005-11-21T05:53:14Z")
I can’t remember what it’s for, but it’s got two little girls mangling “Dust in The Wind”. Poor “Dust” is also in a car ad, which is interesting because they’re both currently running! So much for one of my favorite angsty songs from my most angsty teen years… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/22 "2005-11-21T08:19:47Z")
> [@jackelope](#): > > Then again, Ford Motor Company using “Linus & Lucy” irks me mightily as well; just by the by, if anyone wants to send them an e-mail, you can do it from [here](https://www.ford.com/en/support/emailUs.htm). Didn’t complain when Nissan used it. Didn’t complain when Tropicana used it. Not gonna complain now, _Peanuts_ fan though I am. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/23 "2005-11-21T08:23:36Z")
Now that I think about it, we’ve come full circle. _Linus and Lucy_ would never had been written if Coca-Cola hadn’t asked for an animated Peanuts special. The first time the Peanuts characters were animated were in commercials _selling Fords!_ Now if I can figure out a link between Mercedes and Marlene Deitrich, we’ll be all squared away. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/24 "2005-11-21T08:40:33Z")
Maybe I’m dating myself, but the first time I was “horrified” by this concept was almost thirty years ago when I heard the “elevator-music” version of a Steely Dan song in a grocery store. Since then I’ve become so numb that hearing Zeppelin’s **Black Dog** in a Buick commercial only made me cry a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/25 "2005-11-21T14:43:33Z")
Car commercial, don’t remember the brand. Car drives down a country road through luscious green pastures, and up to a castle in the hills, where a family of redheads is waiting for a picnic. Obviously, to try and get across the “idyllic Irish getaway in your car!” feeling, the ad writers went with bouncy flute music as the background. Ten seconds into the commercial, I fell into hysteric laughter- the flute performance they had chosen was the introduction to Jethro Tull’s _Thick As A Brick_. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/26 "2005-11-21T15:03:43Z")
A few years back, there was a commercial for a chain of day-care centers that used the Fourth Movement from Beethoven’s Ninth (“Ode to Joy”) synched to video of little kids bursting out of classrooms, flooding the hallways, and running excitedly through a school like a herd. The version they used, however, was from the soundtrack to **A Clockwork Orange**. :eek: (For those unfamiliar, the film depicts the violent and inhuman excesses of a young British thug, and his violent and inhuman “re-education” at the hands of The State, which only has his best interests in mind. The juxtaposition was terrifying.) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/27 "2005-11-21T15:09:17Z")
There’s a current commercial running that plays “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” while this bleak urban landscape erupts into a crazed water balloon fight. Some of the participants are wearing masks and at one point, they all start bombarding a small Asian guy carrying groceries. The whole thing is very disturbing. Sort of Clockworky Orangish. It’s for Xbox. ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/28 "2005-11-21T15:10:01Z")
> [@zoogirl](#): > > I can’t remember what it’s for, but it’s got two little girls mangling “Dust in The Wind”… Oh, that one cracks me up! It’s the cheesy hand motions and everything that makes it so funny. Hee, I giggle every time. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/29 "2005-11-21T15:38:16Z")
One more on the “Fortunate Son” ad. It honestly made me want to throw up. Only for a moment, perhaps, but I’ve never felt so sick about anything on TV before. Just couldn’t be more opposite of what the song was about. And also, not to get into GD or the Pit, but it’s kind of particularly relevant these days. Just change the line about “Senator’s son” to “President’s son”. And poor John Forgerty was alive to witness it. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/30 "2005-11-21T15:44:38Z")
Actually **DfrntBreign** , it’s a Cadillac commercial that’s using Led Zeppelin. And it is so very, very wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/31 "2005-11-21T17:55:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Ten seconds into the commercial, I fell into hysteric laughter- the flute performance they had chosen was the introduction to Jethro Tull’s Thick As A Brick. Well, there are probably some products that could use the line _Your sperms in the gutter / Your love’s in the sink._ ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/32 "2005-11-21T17:59:32Z")
Sorry, make that _Your sperm’s in the gutter_. Can’t say it enough. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/33 "2005-11-21T18:11:48Z")
Ditto on the Cadillac / Rock and Roll theme. And if I hear Bob Seger “Ohhhhh like a rock!” one more time I’m throwing something heavy at the TV. John Densmore is using his veto powers and refuses to allow any Doors songs to be used in commercials, even though it could bring in a tonne of money to the surviving 3: doesn’t think Jim would appreciate it. Thanks John! ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/34 "2005-11-21T18:45:24Z")
That HP commercial for some kind of photo software with The Cure’s song _Pictures of You_ makes me cringe. Did they even listen to the lyrics? That song is one hell of a depressing song, talking about how the pictures are all he has left of a broken relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012/35 "2005-11-21T19:13:33Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Ditto on the Cadillac / Rock and Roll theme. And if I hear Bob Seger “Ohhhhh like a rock!” one more time I’m throwing something heavy at the TV. > > John Densmore is using his veto powers and refuses to allow any Doors songs to be used in commercials, even though it could bring in a tonne of money to the surviving 3: doesn’t think Jim would appreciate it. If John Bonham were alive to hear Rock & Roll used in a Cadillac commercial… he’d vomit! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-use-of-music-in-a-commercial/332012.md?page=1)