What is the most inappropriate commercialization of a song?

[KitchenWitch]

The JCPenney commercialization for Valentine's Day of 99 Red Balloons has got to be in the top 10.

[Richardo]

1. Reagan campaign completely missing the point of "Born in the USA"

:eyes:

[underpants]

5. "Little Pink Houses" and "I'm a DOLE man" too

I believe all of the artist quickly asked them to stop using their songs.

Neither "Little Pink Houses" nor "Born in the U.S.A." are meant to be uplifting glory be America songs. IMHf*ckin'O

[deutsey]

2. "London Calling" to sell Jaguars

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" as part of the promo music for the Super Bowl.

[WilliamPitt]

25. Ditto on London Calling

[brainshrub]

3. The Beatles "Revolution" to sell Nike sneakers.

May Yoko Ono rot in hell.

[Tafiti]

9. Yep, that was my vote.

The lyrics to that song do not belong in a fucking commercial, period.

[drumwolf]

11. That wasn't Yoko's fault -- it was Michael Jackson's.

He's the one who owns the rights to the Beatles catalog.

Although, with any luck, maybe he'll be forced to sell it to cover his legal woes.

[deutsey]

23. Yeah, if anything it's Paul's fault

He encourage Jackson to buy song rights as a wise investment when the two of them were buddies in the '80s. Little did McCartney know that Jackson would take his advice to heart and buy the Beatles' songs out from under him.

[Beware the Beast Man]

4. Wrangler (?) using "Fortunate Son" in a jingoistic ad.

Conveniently omitting the "it ain't me" portion of the song.

[Richardo]

6. That was next on my list

Good one, BTBM...

[Richardo]

7. Rod Freakin Stewart singing 'The Way You Look Tonight' for a car ad

Not necessarily inappropriate, I just can't stand Rod Stewart, and it's one of my favorite songs of all time.

[LynneSin]

8. Please make Cadillac stop using "Rock -N- Roll" PLEASE

I'm begging!

[terrya]

10. Using Devo's "Whip It" to sell floor mops.

"Whip It" is about masturbation. It's not about mopping and waxing your floors, for goodness' sake. :-)

T

[Richardo]

12. I've heard it called 'waxing your floor' before....

Not really. ;-)

[achtung_circus]

13. "We Won't Get Fooled Again"

used to pimp cars. The irony, and the disappointment.

[Richardo]

16. especially since it was a Hummer ad, IIRC

:eyes:

[lady lib]

14. Using any song by Aerosmith or Led Zeppelin

to sell Buicks and Cadillacs. Puke.

[drumwolf]

15. Burger King using Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing."

:wtf: That's beyond inappropriate -- it's just plain bizarre.

[Feathered Fish]

17. Holiday in Cambodia for Levi's Jeans

That pissed Jello off. And a recent one: Complicated by the Stones for Lexmark Printers.

[kick-ass-bob]

18. Carolina Hurricanes using 'Rock Me Like a Hurricane'

not knowing what it really meant!
:o

[stanwyck]

19. Rush Limbaugh using

The Pretenders and for us those who remember poor Spiro Agnew...he pumped up The Beatles' "I get by with some help from my friends" until he was told the song had drug references.
but deluded Reagan using Springsteen's "Born in the USA" as a nationalistic anthem reeks of Bush/Rove thinking. Just do like the ancient Romans did, incorporate what those godless pagans are doing into your own propaganda. Trees become a celebration of Christ's birth. Rabbits become a symbol of the resurrection. Protest songs become anthems for the New World Order.
And the sheep blindly follow and bleat along with the beat.

[deutsey]

22. Bill Hicks on the Easter Bunny

... they (Australia) celebrate Easter the exact same way we do: commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus by telling our children a giant bunny rabbit left chocolate eggs in the night. Now, I wonder why we’re fucked up as a race. Anybody got any idea? You know, I’ve read the Bible. I can’t find the word bunny or chocolate anywhere in the fucking book. Where do they come up with this shit? Why not goldfish left Lincoln logs in your sock drawer? As long as you’re making shit up - you know - go hog-wild. At least the goldfish with a Lincoln log on its back going across your carpet has some miraculous connotations: "Mum, today I found a Lincoln log in me sock drawer." "That’s the story of Jesus..."

[Spider Jerusalem]

20. Devo's "Beautiful World" in a Target commercial.

Left out the line that says "It's a beautiful world for you...not me"

Oh, and the Wrangler Jeans commercial with Creedence Clearwater's "Fortunate Son" (the only snippet of lyrics in that one: "Some folks are born, made to wave the flag...oooh they're red white & blue", with lots of "patriotic" imagery).

And Iggy's "Lust For Life" in a fucking Carnival Cruise Lines commercial...

[Mikimouse]

21. The use of Fortunate Son for a damned jean commercial...

Of course, they only used the first lines and omitted the real meat of the song, but it was hypocritical at best.

[UncleSepp]

24. 88 Lines About 44 Women

I swear I heard the melody line for this in a commercial for some small Jeep-like SUV. It DEFINITELY wasn't any of the words!

[flamingyouth]

26. The Sonics' "Have Love, Will Travel" being used for some ad

I think it was for a car - I was out of the room and came running back in when I heard it. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.