Ad nauseum

I've been watching TV for most of my life.  Some of it was even in black and white.  And I used to walk to school, up hill both ways..... back to me.  The major hazard of watching the boob tube, other than bad SyFy movies, is all the commercials.  You know them - Trix are for kids, Where's the beef, you got your peanut butter in my chocolate and the one that gives me shudders - mom, did you ever get that not so fresh feeling?  You know them because they are designed to sit in the back of your brain and make you buy the products.

All the products they sold me
I let them own me
-Sinch

I can freely admit to loving the Old Spice commercials but not to the point of buying their crap.  I tend to be a contrarian (big surprise for none of you) when something is pushed on me.  So I analyze the ads to see what they are trying to make me believe.  There is a reason for everything they show you on the screen and the words in the script.  I could fill up the blog with this crap but let's focus on one commercial I've recently seen.

Lincoln has been trying a campaign of using covers of old songs in their car commercials.  Probably trying to show they are still relevant as the music.  The Major Tom cover was the first one I saw and it was catchy.  But recently I saw this one.

link


For those of you sadly unaware, that's a shitty club version remake of Blue Oyster Cult's - Burning For You.  On one hand I'm happy for Buck Dharma to get some residuals, on the other hand.... ewwwww.  But let's set my personal taste aside for a moment and focus on their choice of music.  You might think the song is about a burning interest in the owning the car, sort of a love song.  Seems like a good choice for a car commercial.  Can ya dig it?  Or maybe you'd focus on this being a road song about traveling.  Again, not a bad thing for a automobile ad.

Neither of these interpretations come to my mind.  To me, this has always been a dark song similar to Don't Fear the Reaper.  It conjurers up thoughts of unrequited love, not the joy of being in love.  And road songs tend toward the melancholy of always being on the move.  Neither of these seem to fit a happy car commercial no matter what electronic beat you put to it.  I could focus on the obvious drug reference here.  "Burn out the day, burn out the night" - sounds like a nice vacation in the Florida Keys. (I'm not naming names!)  Maybe the more sinister theme of suicide would be more appropriate?  You good catholics know you'll burn in hell for killing yourself.  Now watch the poor boy in the original video burn inside his car.  Still want to buy a Lincoln?

link


"I'm not the one to tell you what's wrong and what's right."  I'm off to play B sides!