DS Forums

 
 

Famous songs you first knew as mangled Advertising jingles


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 27-11-2013, 21:58
Kodaz
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,006

As a kid, did anyone have the experience of becoming familiar with a well-known song through its use in shamelessly bastardised form for a TV advert? This seemed to be really common with 60s songs during the 1980s, but not so much these days(?)

(See mine below for what I mean.)

List yours here... but only if that was the first time you remember hearing that song. Bonus points if you still remember the mangled form better, or at least think of it when you hear the song!

Here are mine, complete with video links. (*)


Manfred Mann's "5-4-3-2-1" as, er... "5-4-3-2-1", used to advertise the chocolate biscuit of the same name. Title remains the same, but I'm blooming sure the original didn't go "Chew chew chew the caramel toffee in 5-4-3-2-1" (and yeah, I *did* remember that line like it was yesterday). Pretty sure most people growing up in the early 80s heard it there first, it seemed to be a permanent fixture.

"Cool Jerk" as "Do the Dip" to advertise KP Choc Dips. I thought these looked pretty cool as a kid, and had them a few times, but they're not really something I'd buy as an adult. Which begs the question- who they were marketing to with that 60s pastiche? Baby boomer adults, or kids not even old enough to remember disco (i.e. me!)

Little Eva's "Locomotion" as "Do the Shell Promotion". (Yeah, I know this is also well-known as a Kylie song now, but that ad came out a year or two before she covered it.)

"Big Bad John" became "Big Bad Dom[estos]"

I'm sure there are more if I think about them...

(*) I'm still not entirely convinced if it's a good thing that I can easily access and provide links to what should be a hazy, half-remembered memory from 25+ years ago in service of some stupid thread about advert and music nostalgia.
Kodaz is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 27-11-2013, 22:22
afcbfan
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,288
First one that sprang to mind was:

Cadbury's Roses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCkKbcmnugI

borrowing from The Scaffold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzMvGUip_PA
afcbfan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-11-2013, 23:36
mrkite77
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: arizona
Posts: 5,220
The worst case of taking a song and turning it into an Advertising Jingle is this:

This song:
of Montreal - Wraith Pinned to the Mists
turned into this horribleness:
Outback Steakhouse


However, the *best* has got to be this Starbucks ad.
mrkite77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 18:52
Kodaz
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,006
First one that sprang to mind was:

Cadbury's Roses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCkKbcmnugI

borrowing from The Scaffold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzMvGUip_PA
Yep- think that the Roses ad was the first place I heard that one too.

The worst case of taking a song and turning it into an Advertising Jingle is this:

This song:
of Montreal - Wraith Pinned to the Mists
turned into this horribleness:
Outback Steakhouse


However, the *best* has got to be this Starbucks ad.
The Eye of the Tiger one is horrid, I agree, but were those *really* the first time you'd heard those songs? They look quite recent...
Kodaz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-11-2013, 03:25
SuperAPJ
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 9,858
Eye of the TIger will always make me think of Frosties!
SuperAPJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-11-2013, 09:29
lulu25
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 542
Just one Cornetto,
give it to me,
delicious ice-cream, of Italy,
creamy vanilla and choco dream,
Give me a Cornetto,
from Wall's ice cream.

Actually a very famous Opera song Ol Sole Mio- I didn't know this until years later!
lulu25 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-11-2013, 12:41
LaVieEnRose
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 6,516
Just one Cornetto,
give it to me,
delicious ice-cream, of Italy,
creamy vanilla and choco dream,
Give me a Cornetto,
from Wall's ice cream.

Actually a very famous Opera song Ol Sole Mio- I didn't know this until years later!
Me too!
Plus the Elvis song It's Now Or Never steals the same melody, so I thought that's where the Cornetto tune came from
LaVieEnRose is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-11-2013, 13:13
twingle
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 16,266
The coco cola advert, I'd like to teach the world to sing originally by the new seekers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1NeogMh1JI
twingle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-11-2013, 13:27
Janey B
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 237
The Nimble bread advert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NopAq6tUHVk
Janey B is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-11-2013, 13:35
mialicious
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: London
Posts: 3,846
The sweet - blockbuster (blockbuster video)
mialicious is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 29-11-2013, 19:49
Kodaz
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,006
Just one Cornetto
Yeah, first place I heard it as well! I've never been on a gondola ride, but if I did I'd insist on taking a Cornetto with me.

The coco cola advert, I'd like to teach the world to sing originally by the new seekers
As far as I know, the ad came first for that, then was redone as a full-length song.

Another one...

Californian.... er, Caledonian Girls... heard this Obviously-not-the-Beach-Boys version first. (The ad itself doesn't ring any bells, but the jingle does).

And...

"Take good care of yourself, you belong to me" which I first heard as "Take good care of your teeth, brush with Mentadent P".

Surprisingly, though I'd heard the original since, it was only when I was looking it up just now that I realised the original song *wasn't* called "You belong to me" (that's the name of a different song) but "Button up your Overcoat."
Kodaz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-11-2013, 11:13
Renegade Master
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 884
Babylon Zoo
Renegade Master is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-11-2013, 14:39
Blondie X
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Kent but ex Sarf London
Posts: 26,530
Loved that advert but really hated the song when it was released. I was expecting some sort of dance track as the ad only used the 'spaceman, spaceman' bit of the song
Blondie X is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-11-2013, 18:24
Kodaz
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,006
Yeah, they didn't really mangle that one for the advert, though- they used a pre-existing remix, and they didn't change the lyrics to "Levis / I always wanted you to buy me some Levis / Two for a tenner now!" Also, it's not like anyone had heard it before the ad (or would ever had heard it) either, so they weren't exactly exploiting a famous song!

That said, it was quite surprising that- despite having used the speeded up remix in the ad- they got everyone to buy the single with the much slower and heavier original (albeit with a snatch of the remix plastered on at the start).

Anyone remember lead singer Jas Mann (*) hyping up the band and implying they were going to do great things and be huge...

(*) I'd always assumed Babylon Zoo *was* basically just an alias of Jas Mann, but according to Wikipedia there were other members too. Apparently.
Kodaz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 30-11-2013, 18:26
Helbrown
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,322
I used to love this on the Brutus Jeans ad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwGlhKcEBjY
Helbrown is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 21:20.