Being the audio geek that I am, I’ll hear songs on commercials and wonder, “why did they pick that song?” The most recent example of this was the T-Mobile commercial during the Super Bowl with the babies. The background music was a lullaby, and the wheels in my head started spinning, trying to figure out the melody being played. I stopped listening to the words being spoken. It sounded so familiar… I spent the next few minutes searching my mind. “Could it be?” Yes, it was Nirvana, and specifically, their song All Apologies. I was then thinking, “why did they pick that song?” I don’t know the why, maybe because the original was on an album titled In Utero, or maybe the creative team was wanting to leave an “easter egg” of sorts to the astute viewer.
Still another example, was an ad last year for Lipton. They featured a very peppy song with humming vocals along with handclaps and foot stomping. It sounded really great, but I knew the song they used. It was Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and the song S.O.B. It is a happy little song about someone giving up on a relationship and choosing to drink their life away, and I don’t think Nate is using Lipton.
Don’t worry. It is not all doom and gloom in the song choices. Take the ADT commercials with the “you are loved” at the end, for example. The song is from a Christian group Stars Go Dim and the song is appropriately named, You Are Loved. It is an encouraging song which reminds the listener they are loved, even if they are going through difficult times. So ADT wants to be there for you as well - makes sense to me.
Advertising is fun. Keep your eyes and ears open out there. You might be surprised what you find.
For your perusal, here are the ads I mentioned in the post:
T Mobile
https://youtu.be/C-rumHvmqCA
Lipton
https://youtu.be/Is4Wpwp3nwU
ADT
https://youtu.be/IjsMdRjOmbg