buzzcocks + AARP = so wrong!

I saw a commercial on the Weather channel today. It caught my attention when I heard "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" by the Buzzcocks. I think "cool, what's this?" It's a commerical for AARP!!! Seems so wrong. Anyone seen this?

[ Edited by: 4WDtiki 2007-01-18 18:58 ]

On 2007-01-18 18:57, 4WDtiki wrote:
I saw a commercial on the Weather channel today. It caught my attention when I heard "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" by the Buzzcocks. I think "cool, what's this?" It's a commerical for AARP!!! Seems so wrong. Anyone seen this?

[ Edited by: 4WDtiki 2007-01-18 18:58 ]

Haven't seen it yet. But, I seem to remember seeing them at the Bachanal during a "come back" tour back in 90 or 91.

It kinda sucks to say that. :(

I just saw it again a little while ago (probably on TV Land). Never thought I'd hear that coming outta my TV!

You wouold be surprized what us old folks are into!!! :D

It's almost as bad as Iggy Pop and Royal Carribean. The Stooges hanging with Captain Stubing playing shuffleboard, now that's a vacation!!

Shuffleboard on a cruise ship with AARP members all the while drinking cockbuzz cocktails and scammin' on well-to-do elderly widows, whilst pretending to enjoy Liberace and early Wayne Newton...............hmmmm, that's the life.

Nay, seriously brethern.

Horror of horrors....I live in the greatest retirement community in the United States. I am the baby in the neighborhood, but love hanging with the old clan. Behind closed doors I worship Led Zepplin, Neil Young, The Pretenders, Flock of Seagulls, Audioslave, Disturbed, Les Baxter, Martin Denny. I have a GEM electric car in the garage for tooling around the neighborhood and a Nissan Murano for hauling my arse to work every day. I have a grandfather clock in my living room and a banana tree in my tiki lounge. I read AARP magazines, books about ancient Egypt, and BOT. Just remember....diversity of the mind is the secret to happiness in life. :)

My first thought is to say hooray for the Buzzcocks. How long have they been around? 30 years at this point? I'm sure those guys have no problem selling out at this point, plus they probably deserve the money. These guys can't be underground forever.

My second thought is thinking about the corn-fed, silverspoon in their mouth nerds in their advertising agency offices brainstorming about how cool they think it's gonna be to put a BUZZCOCKS song in their sorry-ass retirement commercial:

"Ooooh yeah, that'll get people to pay attention. A song from those there PUNK-ROCK-STARS."

LAME! Oh well, in a culture of apathy this is how it goes. My advice? If you have to watch TV, do what I do: mute out the commercials! It's a great silent protest and it saves you a whole lot of aggravation down the road. In this particular scenario ignorance definitely IS bliss.

The Buzzcocks' generation is the generation of old farts that are heading the advertising table these days.

(shrug) It doesn't bother me; I'd way rather hear the Buzzcocks or the Stooges than something crummy. It's not gonna make me any more or less likely to buy the product, but if I'm gonna hear ad music it may as well be something good.

Sometimes I wonder how certain ones came about - was it picked by people who aren't very familiar with the song/band and just thought the sound was good for the ad? Or are they intentionally using a song about heroin or the apocalypse to try to sell me a car?

I've had about enough of "Blitzkrieg Bop" being used, just since it's been so overdone now. But I'd let it go if someone had the nerve to include the "shoot 'em in the back now" line.

You will probably find this one interesting (or maybe annoying) too...

A 401K add by Fidelity with the background music of the Zombies (Time of the Season) and there is even a green lava lamp at the end of the add.

This should help to increase the paranoia over oldie songs on commercials...
As Seen On TV!
From Robert Fontenot,
Your Guide to Oldies Music.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
A guide to oldies songs used in new TV commercials

Now more than ever, commercial television advertisements are turning to oldies songs as soundtracks for their pitch. The following list is designed as a resource for those of you who may have heard a song you didn't recognize in one of these ads, and would like to identify it. If you hear what sounds like an oldies song (that is, song from the '50s, '60s, or '70s) in a commercial and don't see it listed here, ask about it in our forum! This is an ongoing resource here at oldies.about.com, always here for your convenience.

Product: 7UP
Song: The Partridge Family, "Sunshine"

Product: Allstate
Song: The Association, "Never My Love"

Product: Ameriprise
Song: The Spencer Davis Group, "Gimme Some Lovin'"

Product: Black Cherry Vanilla Coke
Song: Barry White, "You're The First, The Last, My Everything"

Product: Buick Lacrosse
Song: Aerosmith, "Dream On"

Product: Burger King
Song: Helen Reddy, "I Am Woman"

Product: Cadillac
Song: Led Zeppelin, "Rock and Roll"

Product: Carnival Cruises
Song: Bobby Darin, "Beyond The Sea"

Product: Chase
Song: Brenton Wood, "Gimme Little Sign"

Product: Chase (Freedom)
Song: The Rolling Stones, "I'm Free"

Product: Chevy Cobalt
Song: The Yardbirds, "Over Under Sideways Down"

Product: Chevy Silverado
Song: The Kinks, "You Really Got Me"

Product: Chevy Silverado
Song: Climax, "Precious And Few"

Product: Cialis
Song: The Ronettes, "Be My Baby"

Product: Cingular/AT&T Wireless
Song: The Allman Brothers, "Melissa"

Product: Cingular/AT&T Wireless
Song: The Band, "The Weight"

Product: Cisco
Song: The Who, "Baba O'Riley"

Product: Citgo
Song: Three Dog Night, "Shambala"

Product: Clinique
Song: The Turtles, "Happy Together"

Product: Clix
Song: Johnny "Guitar" Watson, "Gangster Of Love"

Product: Clorox Wipes
Song: Mario Lanza, "Beloved"

Product: Delta SimpleFares
Song: Donovan, "Happiness Runs"

Product: Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
Song: The Muppets, "Mahna Mahna"

Product: Diet Dr. Pepper
Song: Tom Jones, "Help Yourself"

Product: DirecTV
Song: Bo Diddley, "Better Watch Yourself"

Product: DirecTV
Song: Thunderclap Newman, "Something In The Air"

Product: Dodge Charger
Song: Nazareth, "Hair of the Dog"

Product: Dolce & Gabbana (The One)
Song: Charles Mingus, "Moanin'"

Product: Dr. Pepper
Song: Hot Chocolate, "You Sexy Thing"

Product: ESPN Mobile
Song: Chad and Jeremy, "A Summer Song"

Product: Fidelity Investments
Song: The Zombies, "Time Of The Season"

Product: Fidelity Investments
Song: KC and the Sunshine Band, "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty"

Product: Fidelity Investments
Song: Billy Preston, "Nothing from Nothing"

Product: Fox Soccer Channel
Song: Dean Martin, "Sway"

Product: FOX TV
Song: The Temptations, "Get Ready"

Product: Gatorade
Song: Rare Earth, "I Just Want to Celebrate"

Product: GE
Song: Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Sixteen Tons"

Product: GMC
Song: Bill Withers, "Use Me"

Product: HP
Song: Maxine Sullivan, "Blue Skies"

Product: HP Photosmart
Song: The Robins, "Out of the Picture"

Product: HP Picture Book
Song: The Kinks, "Picture Book"

Product: Hummer
Song: The Who, "Happy Jack"

Product: Hummer
Song: Tom Jones, "Help Yourself"

Product: Hummer
Song: Ruth Brown, "This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'"

Product: Journey Diamond
Song: Dusty Springfield, "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life"

Product: Just For Men
Song: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing"

Product: Kia
Song: The Sound Of Music (Original Cast), "So Long, Farewell"

Product: Kohl's
Song: The Lovin’ Spoonful, "Do You Believe in Magic"

Product: Kohl’s
Song: Electric Light Orchestra, "Do Ya"

Product: Korbel
Song: Pilot, "Magic"

Product: Land Rover
Song: The Sonics, "Have Love Will Travel"

Product: Lexmark
Song: The Rolling Stones, "Complicated"

Product: Levis
Song: Johnny Cash, "I Walk The Line"

Product: Levis
Song: The Commodores, "Easy"

Product: M&Ms
Song: The Hues Corporation, "Rock The Boat"

Product: Mastercard
Song: Roger Miller, "Walkin' In The Sunshine"

Product: Mercedes
Song: Booker T.and the MGs, "Green Onions"

Product: Miami Ink (TV show)
Song: Toots and the Maytals, "Funky Kingston"

Product: Monster.com
Song: Electric Light Orchestra, "Do Ya"

Product: Move Free
Song: The Mamas and the Papas, "Go Where You Wanna Go"

Product: Mylanta
Song: John Sebastian, "Welcome Back (Theme from 'Welcome Back Kotter')"

Product: New York Lottery
Song: Gallery, "Nice To Be With You"

Product: Nike
Song: Kool & The Gang, "Summer Madness"

Product: Nissan
Song: Tito Puente, "Oye Como Va"

Product: Norelco
Song: Nazareth, "Love Hurts"

Product: Office Depot
Song: Bachman-Turner Overdrive, "Taking Care of Business"

Product: OfficeMax
Song: The Spinners, "Rubberband Man"

Product: Pizza Hut
Song: Nancy Sinatra, "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'"

Product: Planters
Song: Bay City Rollers, "Saturday Night"

Product: Pringles
Song: Carl Carlton, "Everlasting Love"

Product: Prison Break (TV show)
Song: The Rolling Stones, "Gimme Shelter"

Product: Slimfast
Song: Chairmen of the Board, "Give Me Just A Little More Time"

Product: Snickers
Song: Bobby Sherman, "Make Your Own Kind Of Music"

Product: Special K
Song: Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, "The Girl From Ipanema"

Product: Talbot's
Song: Marvin Gaye, "You're A Wonderful One"

Product: Target
Song: Max Frost and the Troopers, "Shape Of Things To Come"

Product: Target
Song: Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, "Express Yourself"

Product: Target
Song: The Beatles, "Hello Goodbye"

Product: Tide (Simple Pleasures)
Song: Al Green, "Let's Stay Together"

Product: Tommy Hilfiger
Song: Jefferson Airplane, "Volunteers"

Product: Toyota
Song: Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell, "Dueling Banjos"

Product: UPS
Song: Stevie Wonder, "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing"

Product: Verizon
Song: The Five Stairsteps, "O-o-h Child"

Product: VH1
Song: The Carpenters, "Sing"

Product: Visa Check Card
Song: Raymond Scott, "Powerhouse"

Product: Volvo
Song: Donovan, "Catch The Wind"

Product: Vonage
Song: Rock-A-Teens, "Woo Hoo"

Product: Wendy's
Song: Steppenwolf, "Magic Carpet Ride"

Product: Wrangler
Song: Thin Lizzy, "The Boys are Back in Town”

Product: Yoplait
Song: Brian Hyland, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini”

Product: Zales
Song: The Yardbirds, "For Your Love"