Things that make you go "hmmm"....

So I've been watching a lot of TV lately and I'm getting really tired of the new commercial for "Smarties".

You know Smarties - the little bite-size candies that are the Canadian rip-off of M&Ms. Anyway, something that irks me about this commercial is the song that's being sung (poorly) by the actors. For some reason they've chosen to use the song "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone. This is a song that was written and intended to help promote racial harmony. Now it's being used to hock candy.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for racial harmony. What I'm against is big companies profiting from songs like "Everyday People" when the original intention of the artist who wrote the song was to sell something much more important than candy.

I think the best example (and definaition of irony)was a commercial for Bank of Montreal a few years back. The spot featured a bunch of children running through a field singing along to "The Times They Are A Changin'" by Bob Dylan. Keep in mind, that song was once used to protest people like the big banks and now's it's promoting them. Yep, the times really are changing.

What's next, using 60's anti-Vietnam war songs to get people to enlist in the Armed Forces?

I will say this though, sometimes ad companies do get it right when it comes to picking the right song for a product. Another ad from a few years back was for Aiwa Sound. As you can see...they know how to have a little fun with their product - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZG_tTjQEmY