OK, we get it. 'Esquire' loves Wilco and VW.
This week, Esquire posted a truly arbitrary list of the Top 10 Car Commercial Songs, which might as well have been called the Wilco/VW Playlist. Its rankings were determined by the mathematical formula of “(quality of song/fan disapproval) x odds we’d buy that car,” which is downright simple compared to the Moby Quotient. There are a few good picks on the Esquire list, namely Wilco’s beautiful and beautifully used “Either Way” in the commercial above. But there are some real turds in the granola, too, like Mellencamp’s red-blooded rodeo anthem “Our Country.” So what should be on the list of the greatest car-ad songs? Check out a few of our picks after the jump, and share some of your own in the comments. —Posted by David Griner There’s no shame in going with VW for any best-song list, but how could Esquire leave off these two? “Pink Moon” by Nick Drake
“Mr. Blue Sky” by ELO
Adweek’s Manuela Oprea also reminded us of the techo catchiness of The Orb’s “Little Fluffy Clouds.”
I generally don’t associate Cadillac with things of beauty, but AdFreak editor Tim Nudd rightly points out this spot featuring the hypnotic “Here Comes the Sun Again” by M. Ward.
And what the hell, why not throw in the Never Ending Story theme song? |
Comments
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Uhhh, how about the one commercial that truly got this whole "car commercial music" thing going?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=faaD-XfBehY
"Sunday Afternoon" for the VW Golf
Or a few years later...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pa0oA5IxwJk
"Synchronicity" for the VW Jetta
Here's the interesting thing about 80% of these spots: Hummer, Cadillac and the older VW work all came from a pretty small group of creatives in Boston, lead by two CDs: Lance Jensen and Alan Pafenbach.
Posted by: Tim Brunelle | Mar 20, 2008 11:59:43 AM
I'm partial to the music for the original electric car campaign (for GM's EV1), for obvious reasons. :)
http://www.burstcollective.com/2008/music-licensing/the-electric-car-circa-1999/
Loved those Little Fluffy Clouds, too... and every time I see the new PS3 ads I think someone missed an opp for a kickass car commercial.
Posted by: Daniel Holter | Mar 20, 2008 12:13:58 PM
Maybe it's too mainstream considering the others listed here, but the commercial/song combo which resonated the most with me most in recent years was the (quickly banned) Corvette piece featuring the Stones' 'Jumpin Jack Flash.' The song and commercial spot-on matched how I remember daydreaming about cars as a child.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtxUBXBl_E4
Posted by: | Mar 20, 2008 4:05:53 PM
Leaving off "Pink Moon" strikes me as one of those "we're so cool we're going to ignore the obvious" moves. But instead of making Esquire look cool, it just makes them look stupid. After all, how many other car spots have single-handedly resurrected a dead guy's career?
I also think the combination of The Black Keys' "Set You Free" and the Nissan Xterra was a great combo.
Posted by: Anthony Juliano | Mar 20, 2008 8:55:42 PM
What are we talking about? Best pop locking while riding in a car?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH0zWrDi6GA
Posted by: Omar | Mar 21, 2008 10:34:02 AM
I have to go with "Sunday Afternoon" and "Synchronicity." Love both songs and commercials.
Posted by: Ryan | Mar 22, 2008 12:06:57 PM
That's weird that Esquire would rate the song as opposed to the whole spot.
Posted by: Roy | Mar 24, 2008 11:20:34 AM
Arnold's music work on VW was the reason I got into advertising. They had such a string of genius ads using perfect music - Psychic TV, Velocity Girl, Spiritualized, then the Orb, and then, of course Pink Moon. I remember sitting on my couch, 3 in the afternoon, tech-industry unemployed and hung over seeing the New Beetle ad with Spiritualized's "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" and deciding I needed to get into advertising. A year later, I was at Arnold, in time for Milky Way. I give Arnold's use of music partial credit for the Barbarian Group's existence.
Posted by: Rick Webb | Mar 31, 2008 9:14:27 AM
