Commercials that use songs incorrectly suck
By BLAKE COOPER

"a song like revolution doesn't mean sneakers. It means something else. You know?" ~Paul McCartney

Okay, so for whatever reason commercials have this bad habit of using songs with one or two lines that benefit them without understanding that the ladent message behind the songs. This just makes whatever company making the ads look stupid. So i've gathered a few examples of this, and i think you'll see where i'm going.

#1: "Pictures of You" by The Cure
used in..
HP Digital Camera commercial

The Problem: "Pictures of You," like most of The Cure's catalogue, is a song about loss and lonliness. It's a song about losing someone, and having only memories, or 'pictures' to remind you of them. The commercial, however, is simply trying to sell pictures. They don't even attempt to cover up the idiotic misuse of the song in their commercial. People print out pictures of each other and hug and other nice happy things while Robert Smith sings, "I've been staring so long at these pictures of you...that now the pictures are all I can feel." Think lonliness. Think depression. Think HP.

#2: "Bargain" by The Who
used in...
Nissan Car Commercial

The Problem: "Bargain" is a song about the rejection of material possessions and accepting spiritual fulfillment. Therefore, i'm sure you could understand why this would be wrong for A COMMERCIAL! This is really not a good matchup, but the convenient refrain of: "I call that a bargain....the best i've ever had." keeps it lucrative. Maddd lucrative!

#3: "Fortunate Son" by CCR
used in...
Wrangler Commercial

The Problem: Hmmmm.....this is a tough one. It might have something to do with the fact that they used a vietname protest song speaking out against American foriegn policy to promote patriotism during the post 9/11 patriotism rush. Watching blond haired, blue eyed couples wearing jeans and driving around in pickup trucks to the phrase, "some folks were made to wave the flag.....oooohhh that red white and blue" and knowing that the song is being sarcastic, and that the commercial is not, is really somewhat disturbing.

In the end, i can't really decide which is sadder: the fact that these songs are used incorrectly or that the artists sell them in the first place....unless of course you're the Beatles, in which case Michael Jackson bought your songs and uses them without considering context.