On the morning of Superbowl Sunday, I stumbled upon two on-line
car commercials that stood out for me. One ad featured the band The Flaming Lips and the other invlolves the musician Beck.
In one ad, cult favourite rockers The Flaming Lips and their song "Sun Blows
Up Today" score a Superbowl ad for the Hyundai Santa Fe. The
spot is a face-paced montage depicting an adventurous young
family-of-six sitting at Sunday breakfast and discussing the escapades of thier “epic playdate” – also the
name of the spot – involving skateboarding, visiting a museum, going to a petting zoo,
doing yoga, and being chased by a biker gang.
And while The Flaming Lips have
contributed their song “Do You Realize?” to previous ads for
Mitsubishi
and
Range Rover, this
Hyundai ad has the Oklahoma City-based band providing the carnival
atmosphere akin to their live performances.
In the other ad, which has not aired as
of yet, alt musician Beck has collaborated with an orchestra of 170 musicians to
cover David Bowie's classic “Sound and Vision” from the 1974
classic album Low.
According to Alan Cross' blog, the
campaign for the Ford Lincoln is called "
Hello,Again"
and all the music for these spots feature artists who "transform
classic works into entirely new, fresh, original creations."
Working with acclaimed music director
Chris Milk on the music for the spot, Beck and the musicians perform
the track within a multi-directional sound environment, on a
specially constructed circular stage. Milk has directed videos for
Kanye West and
Gnarls Barkley.
Beck
posted on his website that the performance “will experiment
with the possibilities of perspective and sound movement surrounding
the audience. It will be recorded using 360º equipment and shown
online February 10th.”
A question does linger: are Beck,
Flaming Lips and others of their ilk selling out to the big auto
companies? The quick answer is yes they are. Fans and fellow
musicians (myself included) instinctively believe once an artist
gives up their creative control and integrity for commercialism, then
they have sold out. The belief being that anyone who would do a
commercial is having their soul has been sucked out in exchange for a
big paycheque. But let's look at this on a different angle.
Perhaps a more interesting response to
the sellout question is by replying "no".
Most advertising creative within the
automotive category has traditionally been rather safe and
predictable in execution, being nothing more than a visual pamphlet
for the make and model featured in the ad. They are more utilitarian
rather than artistic endeavours. And this does not exclusively speak
to automotive ads. Just look at most of the ads on the air on daily
basis. Multinational conglomerates that own practically every package
good, service, or retail outlet on the planet shovel out uninspired
ad creative. And do you know why? Because most corporations do not
feel the desire to be innovative or provocative. Believe me, I've been in those boardroom meetings.
So when artists like The Flaming Lips
and Beck do appear in car ads that do not look, feel, or sound like a
typical automotive spot, I applaud it. Why should creative people not
be rewarded for having their art communicate to the masses? That is
the point isn't it?
While I'm glad to see that the art
directors at advertising agencies and directors at production houses
are pushing the clients to try different approaches in their spots,
whether I like it or not, this sea change is not only the doing of
the creative types. The turn from traditional thinking in the
corporate realm can be attributed to those who in marketing in many
of the big corporations who do not necessarily feel that the old
school way of thinking is the way to go. And advertising can only get
better when this happens.
But I wish the creation of interesting,
funny, and provocative ads would be produced more often than just for
a football game in late January.
