Ads That Broke Mainstream Songs
Demolition Man came true! No, Taco Bell hasn’t become the only restaurant in the country. But, in the 1993 science fiction film, in the water downed society of the future, the most popular radio station in town was the one that played “oldies”, but the oldies were commercial jingles, not songs by traditional bands.
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Now, commercial jingles are just about gone, and actual bands are being broken through the use of their songs in commercials. The jingle writer’s in trouble, but bands are on the rise. All of these artists had some sort of following before their song got picked up for a commercial, it was the ad that blew them up. Here are songs that went mainstream because they appeared in commercials first.
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Nick Drake – Pink Moon
Nick Drake’s album, Pink Moon, came out in 1972, it was his final album before he killed himself in 1974. An ad man working with Volkswagen used the title track for one of their car commercials in 1999. Now, we know there were plenty of Nick Drake fans out there, but only they were the ones who had even heard of this song. This immensely popular commercial ended up exposing a lot of people to the mans work, whether Nick Drake fans liked it or not.
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Martin Solveig & Dragonette – Hello
A collaboration between French electronic DJ Martin Solveig and Canadian electropop act Dragonette produced this mind numbingly popular song which blew up in a Trident commercial. It had moderate success outside the US but really got huge play once it was discovered by sound directors. It’s shown up in a bunch of other films and TV shows and is simply known as the Hello song. It’s hit 20 million views on Youtube.
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Vampire Weekend – Holiday
Vampire Weekend’s first album got them tons of indie love. But not until this song was shoved down our throats by Tommy Hilfiger and Honda did they hit the mainstream. These commercials played constantly throughout the Christmas season in 2011. Constantly. You couldn’t get away from it.
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Black Keys – Desperate Man
Everyone now knows who the Black Keys are. Their last album, El Camino, has been a giant success for them, it premiered at number 2 on the Billboard charts. But they’ve recorded six albums before it, and their commercial success has been building for a long time. Their songs have been used in many commercials by this point, but this one, Desperate Man, off of 2004’s Rubber Factory was one of the first. Victoria Secret used it, and how can you not become successful if you’re music’s used in something people jack to?
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Aphex Twin – 4
The Aphex Twin fans out there do not miss in the irony in the use of Richard D James’ music in an ad for The Partnership for a Drug Free America. His song 4, off of the 1996 album Richard D. James, was used in the My Anti-Drug commercial campaign. Aphex Twin makes drug music, and all this commercial did was introduce people to the man’s music, not convince anyone to sober up.
Aphex Twin – 4 from Mackers McMackers on Vimeo.
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The Heavy – How You Like Me Now
Not too many people had heard of The Heavy before 2010, when How You Like Me Now was featured in a Kia commercial campaign that was all over television and the internet. You couldn’t watch a Youtube video without their song on a Kia commercial playing before it. The album came out in 2009, and the song was picked up about a year later. The song is also featured in multiple TV shows, movies and video games.
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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Spread Your Love
The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, an offshoot of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, put out Spread Your Love in 2001. The band’s been touring and putting out albums ever since. Then in 2010 Ketel One Vodka featured Spread Your Love in their ad campaign and the song is now heard constantly. It’s used as bumper music for the NFL, nearly a decade after it’s come out.
