The Wheels of Commerce Go Round and Round

It’s fall premiere season, yet all I want to do is write about car commercials. (Maybe because I’m in the middle of buying one of these. Warning: does not actually transform.)

This morning I complained about Nissan using a Clash song to sell the new Rogue during Heroes (scroll down). So why did that bug me, while I find this Magnetic Fields / Volvo collaboration utterly charming?

Partly, I guess, because Joe Strummer is dead and I have a hard time imagining him wanting his recording used by Nissan. Whereas Stephin Merritt is alive, and I’m sure he can use the dough. I’m all for my favorite artists making a buck off their work, as long as it’s not against their will, doesn’t run against the spirit of their work, and doesn’t permanently ruin my mental associations of the song.

Plus, it’s just so cute! Really, this a perfect combination of product, artist, children’s song and target market. Because in all likelihood, Volvo = (you have children) + (you own a copy of 69 Love Songs). And they manage to convey this without actually showing any sloppy children messing up the backseat with crayons and Cheerios. Brilliant.

yoursis

I LOVE this commercial!!! Maybe it’s the preschool teacher at heart in me. Maybe it’s the fact that I always secretly wanted a Volvo wagon. I predict more mommies/daddies + $$$ = more Volvo sales with this one….
http://www.allmyliesarewishes.com Justin D

I took issue with some of the Cadillac commercials that played on CBS. I found the one about “you can conform…blah blah…the nail that sticks out gets hammered down…cue music…or you can be the hammer”

Being in advertising I am inundated with ad copy day in and day out. This, to me, seemed like something I would object to in a creative meeting. Wouldn’t the hammer, in this case, be that which is dolling out conformity? A tool of big brother? Why would you want a car to make you that? They could’ve done this:

Cut to close up of a pearly white smile on the driver. VO “Or you could be the teeth” then show the car speed past people walking on the street, the force of the speed pulling them out of their paths like nails from a board. Lame? Yes, I just came up with it. But at least it isn’t an unclear message.
James Poniewozik

@Justin D: Yeah, I remember those. Why didn’t they just say, “…or you can be a tool!”

I could actually see the “hammer” message for, say, a Hummer, or some other big SUV vehicle whose pitch is essentially aggressive, i.e., buy this car so you can kill the guy you get in an accident with before he kills you. But the Caddy commercial is for a sedan, isn’t it?
Jim ATL

I think part of it has to do with Merritt’s actual songs (vs. the Clash or Bob Dylan). I love 69 Love Songs but it was never about revolution to me. It was 69 songs, or jingles, about love.

But I don’t think even 1% of Volvo owners are that familiar with Mag Fields. Maybe they are in Brooklyn, but not in the rest of the USA.