A new back-to-school ad campaign for Kohl’s department stores, “Inspired by the Artists, Worn by You,” features Lenny Kravitz, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton, “Heroes” star/aspiring pop star Hayden Panettiere and Plain White T’s in its commercials, singing Kravitz’ “It’s Time For a Love Revolution.” Meanwhile, a current Converse ad is even bolder: the company commissioned N.E.R.D.’s Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, Santogold’s Santi White and Julian Casablancas of The Strokes to create a new full-length song and video, “My Drive Thru,” to promote the company’s centennial.
Yes, real money exchanged hands. Yes, the alchemy of the artists on “My Drive Thru” is approximately as cool as it looks on paper. And yes, it’s a shoe commercial.
It’s been at least a decade since I last fulminated over the evils of “selling out,” mainly because music, like Aristotle’s theory on nature, “abhors a vacuum.” It needs to be heard, and there are too many forces at play in 2008 that will silence music at the broadest level: tight playlists at radio, the ever-increasing cost of fueling up a touring van, and MTV’s constant devolution as an actual music source — how long will it be before even MTVu, the network’s college music source, gets inundated with episodes of “My Super Sweet 16” and “Rob and Big”? Honestly, the musicians involved in these Converse and Kohl’s campaigns — even Lavigne — have a much better shot at being on an MTV network through the ads than by hoping their latest videos get accepted for overnight/early morning rotation.
I also see no just reason to ask my favorite musicians to take a poverty oath simply to achieve some arbitrary standard of purity. And it truly is arbitrary — no one knows who handed down the commandment that says musicians should not take money to sell sneakers. So much great renaissance art was created through patronage — rich people commissioning works of great creative ferment. Pharrell is doing nothing different here.
But about 40 years ago, when the lines were being drawn between the establishment and the counterculture, it became verboten to use your image and likeness for commercial cash-grabbing. And for a long time, before radio playlists became tight and practically codified, it was possible for artists to avoid singing about soda, and the only musicians who showed up in ads were those whose limelight had receded — Rosemary Clooney crooning about paper towels, for instance.
A good number of fans and critics simply thought that musicians could not possibly cool if they sidled up to Mr. Moneybags and used their God-given talent to hawk his wares. The music was sacrosanct. What they didn’t understand, and this line of reasoning is probably a result of watching too much “Mad Men,” was that corporate America was going to harvest their cool whether they wanted money for it or not.
For example, Columbia Records under the leadership of Mitch Miller resisted rock culture until the late-‘60s, when it could no longer afford to do so. By April 1969, the label was using the phrase “The Man Can’t Bust Our Music” to identify with young listeners. It was laughable and transparent, but the label was successfully taking youth culture without giving anything back, and as the legendary New Jersey radio station WFMU points out on its Web site, they used that for the first time on a Chicago album, of all things.
So don’t wring your hands over these ads. When the great indie band Of Montreal sold one of its songs to become the current jingle for Outback Steakhouse, leader Kevin Barnes poured that money into his stage show. An already strong group was able to put on concerts that, from a technical standpoint, were worthy of their talent. To me, that feels like an even trade.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Whuf. What to say? I’ve always been the one to stand up to nobler principles than money and the first one to viciously defend Jello and lambaste the rest of the DK’s decision to whore their music.
But with the Lips songs on umpteen commercials now, they’re doing ok (even tho their shows are decidedly less intimate) so what can I say?
I guess it’s all in the message of the art. the DK’s songs were about being down on The Man. The Beastie Boys even have a lyric about never hearing their songs in a commercial, but they’ve never had a problem with exposure.
I guess I have to go with George Carlin, who equated his appearance on commercials with sticking it to the man by taking his money for something so inconsequential.
As a current consequence, music in television commercials is much more entertaining.
However, old punks die hard. *wring*
August 7th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Music has always been used to sell things, whether a product or itself. If your music has been played on the radio, then you are promoting the stations advertising selling used cars and ladies night at the local dance club (two free long necks if you show up in a bikini!).
As long as music is considered desirable then it will be part of the marketplace. And musicians do not have it easy these days. I’m sure that Outback had several options for their campaign, but some cool ad exec probably wanted to throw Of Montreal a bone. I don’t feel that it lessens the effect of hearing the original song. I do understand the argument that this makes music more disposable, so perhaps there is a balance.
One of my best friends is a musician who’s been working at it for years, going to a job day after day, pouring his own money into recording, renting a van to play at clubs for 10 or 15 people around the southwest. After finally starting to have some success he was working on licensing some of his music. In a resigned voice he said to me, “Steven, I am ready to sell out. I want to be able to quit my day job. In fact, as long as my music is not used to directly support Bush/Cheney, I’m cool with it.”
We all have our limits.