Having never lost my capacity for surprise, which probably marks me as naive, I can only wonder at the latest television spot for General Electric.
There are commercials that misdirect the clear rhetoric of the songs they use very much on purpose, as in the case of Nike's "Revolution," for example, and that's one kind of irony. Then there are the advertisements that seem cheerily indifferent to the songs they use, buoyed by the musical energy: Carnival Cruise Lines' deployment of "Lust for Life," wherein joyous shuffleboarders cavort whilst Iggy reminds us that he's had it in the ear before, of course; that's another kind of irony.
I'm not quite sure how to name the irony of GE's new spot for the wonders of coal (which is abundant...and organic!), which features the song "Sixteen Tons." I'm not sure which version they've used; not my favorite, I don't think (Tennessee Ernie Ford). But no matter; they haven't bothered to change the lyrics at all. And so we are treated to the spectacle of a pitch for coal, scored to a melliflous voice noting explicitly and directly the murderous misery of the life of the coal miner, with the exhausted rage directed right at the boss, including the whole chorus: not just "another day older and deeper in debt," but "I owe my soul to the company store."
How does this happen? How does that conversation work? When will Nike start using "Shut 'Em Down"?
Posted by jane at September 22, 2005 08:27 AM | TrackBack