Music & Advertising: 'interesting' combinations

[sundaygal]

Fabulous early 90s Scottish group, Trashcan Sinatras, covering Hello Goodbye in a Japanese ad for Narita Airport.  Cute!

http://www.narita-airport.jp/jp/fun/cm/index.html

[RGMike]

Any one else notice that 2 ad campaigns that have revolved around African-American spokespersons -- the Miller HighLife spots with the fat black beer-truck driver, and the Allstate "good hands" commercials with Dennis Haysbert -- have been tweaked to add white guys. The Miller man now has a young white sidekick; Haysbert is no longer seen (tho' he's still voicing the tagline) in the Allstate spots which now focus on an annoying Caucasian guy who represents "Mayhem".  Am I reading too much into this?

[ggould]

Any one else notice that 2 ad campaigns that have revolved around African-American spokespersons -- the Miller HighLife spots with the fat black beer-truck driver, and the Allstate "good hands" commercials with Dennis Haysbert -- have been tweaked to add white guys. The Miller man now has a young white sidekick; Haysbert is no longer seen (tho' he's still voicing the tagline) in the Allstate spots which now focus on an annoying Caucasian guy who represents "Mayhem".  Am I reading too much into this?

yes and no.

I don't think the allstate says that, it's 'a whole different head' sort of ad.  It's not replacing one spokesperson with another.  On the other hand, the Miller Lite, kinda tweaks in that direction, but it's a pretty silly campaign to begin with.

[RGMike]

Any one else notice that 2 ad campaigns that have revolved around African-American spokespersons -- the Miller HighLife spots with the fat black beer-truck driver, and the Allstate "good hands" commercials with Dennis Haysbert -- have been tweaked to add white guys. The Miller man now has a young white sidekick; Haysbert is no longer seen (tho' he's still voicing the tagline) in the Allstate spots which now focus on an annoying Caucasian guy who represents "Mayhem".  Am I reading too much into this?

yes and no.

I don't think the allstate says that, it's 'a whole different head' sort of ad.  It's not replacing one spokesperson with another.  On the other hand, the Miller Lite, kinda tweaks in that direction, but it's a pretty silly campaign to begin with.

I realize the Allstae ads are going in a different direction -- but that's often ad-speak for "focus groups didn't like our spokesperson".  Haysbert was VERY visibly the face of Allstate and now he's not being seen.  I can't help wondering if they were getting pushback from, er, certain regions of the country.

[ggould]

Any one else notice that 2 ad campaigns that have revolved around African-American spokespersons -- the Miller HighLife spots with the fat black beer-truck driver, and the Allstate "good hands" commercials with Dennis Haysbert -- have been tweaked to add white guys. The Miller man now has a young white sidekick; Haysbert is no longer seen (tho' he's still voicing the tagline) in the Allstate spots which now focus on an annoying Caucasian guy who represents "Mayhem".  Am I reading too much into this?

yes and no.

I don't think the allstate says that, it's 'a whole different head' sort of ad.  It's not replacing one spokesperson with another.  On the other hand, the Miller Lite, kinda tweaks in that direction, but it's a pretty silly campaign to begin with.

I realize the Allstae ads are going in a different direction -- but that's often ad-speak for "focus groups didn't like our spokesperson".  Haysbert was VERY visibly the face of Allstate and now he's not being seen.  I can't help wondering if they were getting pushback from, er, certain regions of the country.

you could certainly be right.  I'm continually amazed at how overt racism is lately. 

[Lightnin' Rod]

you could certainly be right.  I'm continually amazed at how overt racism is lately. 

Seems like a stretch here, though.  I mean, yes, it's certainly possible.  But there are a hundred other possible reasons why he might not be showing up so much in the ads lately as well.  For one thing, voice-over is probably a good deal cheaper, and the face is instantly connected to that voice, so why not save some money since they've already established the face?  Or, maybe they are phasing him out, but only because the original bump the branding had created is levelling off or even declining.  Or maybe some ad agency bigwig was up all night doing blow with the new guy's sister or girlfriend.  Maybe Haysbert isn't interested in them anymore, or was temporarily busy. 

Could be anything, really.

[Tinka Cat]

you could certainly be right.  I'm continually amazed at how overt racism is lately. 

Seems like a stretch here, though.  I mean, yes, it's certainly possible.  But there are a hundred other possible reasons why he might not be showing up so much in the ads lately as well.  For one thing, voice-over is probably a good deal cheaper, and the face is instantly connected to that voice, so why not save some money since they've already established the face?  Or, maybe they are phasing him out, but only because the original bump the branding had created is levelling off or even declining.  Or maybe some ad agency bigwig was up all night doing blow with the new guy's sister or girlfriend.  Maybe Haysbert isn't interested in them anymore, or was temporarily busy. 

Could be anything, really.

I like the remote VO angle.  Dennis could be chiz-ill-axin' w a Mai Tai and some hottie while he does two minutes worth if work over a crystal clear ISDN line and *voila!* the production dudes have their Dennis Haysbert sound to use.   

he could even be sitting there bare-nekkid getting his kink on while doing it.  "Yeah, you're damn right I'm good hands while I do this voice over.. Oh yeah..." 

Did Miller have a "white guy" commercial as well?  b/c if they did, and now just they have a black guy commercial with a white sidekick, maybe it's b/c they realize they could use one commercial to appeal to two demographics. saves money.

[RGMike]

"We Got The Beat"  is now highlighting K-Mart's back-to-school ads.

[sundaygal]

Tom's Diner featured in a Volkswagen Jetta ad.  I've gotta say, Volkswagen has a pretty good track record for using cool songs/bands in their ads. 

[RGMike]

Tom's Diner featured in a Volkswagen Jetta ad.  I've gotta say, Volkswagen has a pretty good track record for using cool songs/bands in their ads. 

[RGMike]

Those Comcast spots for the NFL Red Zone Channel feature a rockin' cover of the old Dusty Springfield hit "Breakaway". Apparently it's by a band called the Detroit Cobras. Not found on You Tube, unfortunately.

[RGMike]

An anti-smoking spot for a campaign called "Be an Ex" uses the classic instrumental "Swingin' Safari". Bert Kaempfert's got da mad hits!

[RGMike]

Samsung's new phone, "The Fascinate", is being flogged by --what else? -- "(Keep Feeling) Fascination". Talk about yer no-brainer.

[sundaygal]

Samsung's new phone, "The Fascinate", is being flogged by --what else? -- "(Keep Feeling) Fascination". Talk about yer no-brainer.

I take it Samsung didn't go the I'm Fascinated By Your Love Boy by Company B route...

[urth]

Samsung's new phone, "The Fascinate", is being flogged by --what else? -- "(Keep Feeling) Fascination". Talk about yer no-brainer.

I'm surprised they didn't go with Bowie's "Fascination" off Young Americans. I'd think it would appeal to almost the same demographic as (KF)F.