A note: whomever owns the licensing rights to the songs can sell them to who they like. Do The Buzzcocks own their own licensing rights?
Bear in mind the people Marketing wants to ensnare: folks in their mid-20s to mid-40s who have disposible income. They’re catering to that “aging rebellious 80s teen” market. And it’s working
I dunno, I got jaded back in the mid 80s when ELO’s “Hold On Tight (To Your Dreams)” was permanently pinned to … THE COFFEE ACHIEVERS.
“Overture” from the Who’s Tommy was used in some drug commercial a couple of year’s ago.
Exactly.
Which is why, a few years ago, we had Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” playing over the top of a jeans commercial. John Fogerty probably wouldn’t have allowed that if he had still owned the rights to the song.
I have no idea what ya’ll are talking about.
not to mention that they seem to know more than Santa Claus - I tell you, between them and my alumni association, they’re the ones that should be hired to find Bin Laden. 20 minutes, tops.
That song was also used for some Hanes commercial with a dad and kid or something jumping on the bed. I find it disheartening.
Oddly, I don’t mind at all the use of Morphine’s “Buena” for some car commercial, even though I adore that song. I hope the members (and maybe Mark Sandman’s foundation) get some money and recognition.
I guess I just want to pretend I can keep Matt Johnson all to myself. 
I guess we’ll have to share him. Matt’s a f***in’ genius. Dusk is one of my all-time favorite albums. That version of The The, with Johnny Marr, James Eller, and David Palmer, was awesome.
The only time I ever saw Matt’s music used in an ad was in an AIDS PSA - “Love Is Stronger Than Death.” Brilliant.
I suppose it’s possible that someone owns the rights to the song but he seems too savvy for that. There is this line of argument that rock stars gotta eat, and that commercials are becoming the new way to break your music to new audiences. That’s how I discovered Span, an awesome Norwegian rock band. Heard their song on a Nissan commercial. I also think that guys like Mick Jones, Matt Johnson, and Pete Shelley probably didn’t make the money they should have back in the day so maybe it’s okay. Maybe…
My favourite example of this wasn’t a pop song, but a classical piece.
About 10 years ago, Elections Canada was running a public service ad regarding an upcoming election. The visuals were simple images of voter registration cards popping into mailboxes or floating gracefully through letter slots, all to the accompaniment of pretty classical music. The piece in question? The Overture to La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) by Rossini.
I collapsed into uncontrollable laughter the first time I saw this, much to the bemusement of my non-classical music listening friends. To this day, I’m sure that some clever individual knew exactly what they were doing and were overjoyed to pull one over on their political masters.
Speaking of the Clash, a related rant on that stoopid ad for a cell-phone or something that used “Rock the Casbah”. “Rock the cashbox? Rock the cat box?” And the whole point of the commercial is you can download mp3s to this phone and the title is displayed on it. And they show the title displayed on it. :smack: It’s not often that the “pour some shook-up Ramen” misheard lyrics commercial looks smart.
He’s got 6 songs listed in ASCAP under Matthew William Johnson with 3 songs not listing a publisher (‘This is the day’ is one of those songs).
I couldn’t find a listing at BMI but the BMI database search sucks so that doesn’'t mean anything.
It looks like Sony might hold all his other stuff.
I heard that too. I said to my husband, “Is that fucking The The??!”
One of the worst was about 5 years ago when “A Message to You, Rudy” was used in a paper fucking towel commercial. They just kept repeating the line “Stop your messing around” over and over.
The one I didn’t mind so much was “Pictures of You” being used in an HP ad. At least the product was for either photo paper or a photo printer and the ad was done really well.
But the Specials in a paper towel ad just blew my mind. I’m not fond of “Our House” being violated by Maxwell House, either.
Or “Song 2” from Blur, which was the standard background music in commercials that had an X-TREME! theme in the late 1990s.
The Buzzcocks have been in the ad game for a while. A book I have about random musical facts published in 1996 lists “What Do I Get?” as having been used to sell Arthur’s cat food.
And why shouldn’t the Buzzcock’s music be in an AARP commercial? The band formed in 1975. College-age music fans of the time who were sick of arena rock and gratefully turned their musical attention to punk and new wave are either already past 50 or pushing it now (like me).
So I guess this means Orgasm Addict is straight up next for a Viagra ad, hmm?
(I feel yer pain, Ogre.)
This thread made dredge up something (and I’d had it blocked, damn you) that I found more shocking about a performer, than pimping their music in commercials, namely that Alice Cooper is opening a Christian school! :eek:
Which was what blew me away the first time I saw the ad! I mean, I accept getting older, but the realization that the punk/new wave movement began over 30 years ago was quite a jarring reminder.
How about “I Wanna be Sedated” for Ambien? 
I for one would find that quite funny.
Nah, that song really goes best with Ritalin or Strattera!