Questionable truck marketing choices

[sigma7]

Apparently modern televised football wouldn't exist without the pickup truck. This is what I'm forced to conclude after drowning in truck ads during this weekend's pigskin onslaught. While it has cemented in me an abject, unwavering hatred for John Mellencamp, it has prompted a moment or two of curiosity.

Ford's latest advertising campaign features the Black Eyed Peas song "Let's Get It Started." Why? First, taking the lyrics at face value, it sounds like the musicians are encountering a tremendous amount of trouble starting their vehicle, a procedure which normally requires no foresight or actual effort, much less an entire song. Compare and contrast with "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" -- thirty years ago it was mourning sailors lost in treacherous storms, and now it's probably a problem with the spark plugs. But then, I thank Holy God that nobody's trying to use Gordon Lightfoot to sell me something I'm not going to buy anyway.

Worse, "Let's Get It Started" is the radio edit of the song called "Let's Get Retarded," which you'd think would be poison to a marketing campaign. Unless you want to assert that your vehicles are so simple that you could be mentally challenged to operate them, which, judging from some of the traffic I've been in lately, makes quite a bit of sense, really. Either way, it was an actually apropos song to punctuate the Seahawks/Broncos game, wherein veteran Broncos QB Jake "The Snake" Plummer was replaced in the lineup by rookie Jay Cutler, and Cutler...well, let's just say he did not, in fact, get it started.

Comments

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Dude, advertisers have never cared what the lyrics actually mean. That much should be obvious from Staples using "Takin' Care of Business" for its ads, a song that's about being unemployed.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

I used to enjoy the WNBA ads that featured Liz Phair's "Extraordinary," which was a great song, even if they did fade out the part about "average everyday sane psycho supergoddess."

Also see Iggy Pop's "Lust For Life" being relentlessly hammered to shill cruise lines. Ah, yes, heroin equating to vacationing.

[blemt.livejournal.com]

To be fair, he made the mistakes I'd expect from a rookie QB in his first game.

Mind you- I'm most decidedly not a happy little Bronco about it. And WTF was with the Elam option? HELLO- let's not break our Hall of Fame kicker.

Bottom line, we may not make the playoffs this year. I'll be ticked. But every single Broncos fan KNOWS heart of hearts that Plummer is not going to get us past first round. Change hurts, but dude it's gotta happen.

*wince*

I miss John Elway...

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

I thought it was an uncharacteristically stupid move on Shanahan's part. Plummer's no Elway, but he's not going to make rookie mistakes -- like lob the ball into the air instead of taking the sack, for example. If you want to sub out your veteran for a rookie, don't do it when trying a playoff run against teams that aren't Oakland.

I just thought the timing was wrong, the player replacing Plummer was wrong (swap out journeyman for journeyman, but spending two years on the bench can pay huge dividends for rookie QBs), telegraphing it to the Seahawks (a Holmgren team knows how to exploit your weaknesses like no other) was wrong....

The horsies have had their day, though. This year, new blood.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Elam had to be seriously hobbled. Otherwise, Elam at Mile High is virtually a sure thing.