QotD: They're Grrreat!
What or who is your favorite product mascot? Why?
The Flaming Lips. I want to love them, and their music makes me, but when you hear "Do You Realize" being used to sell cars then I have to wonder did the song actually mean as much to them as it does to fans? Sure I know it's hard out there to be pimpin' moderately successful indie / mainstream music to the masses but surely there has to be enough money to pay the hookers and coke bills to avoid being a corporate shill?
At least the Beatles have no control over where their music ends up after Michael Jackson sold all the rights to their songs to Sony in exchange for another ten years worth of a career.
Say what you will about U2 being corporate whores, but the only two commercials their music has ever appeared in was for the U2 iPod in which they did not get paid for but rather used it as a way to advertise their new album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb and once for a third world charity whose name escapes me but again they recieved no money. Had they used "One" to sell dish washers, or "All I Want Is You" to shill mini vans to soccer moms then I'd be really disapointed.
As it is whenever I hear a song I really feel an emotional connection to in an ad I feel cheated. Like someone's taken something that used to belong to me and used it in a way I never wanted. I think artists should realize they can make music that's popular and is used in ads or they can make music that matters to people. It's not a two way street.
