By this point, we've all spent more than enough time bitching about our favorite music being farmed off to commercial endoresements, be it Iggy's "Lust for Life" to hawk Carnival Cruise lines or Zep's "Rock'n'Roll" to sell Cadillacs. But this latest example is a real bone in the throat.
There's an ad currently in rotation that features "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" by the Buzzcocks. Now, hearing Punk Rock in television commercials these days is certainly no longer surprising, given that many ad execs were in their teens and twenties in the late 70's and early 80's. It's just that in this case, the advertisement in question is for the A.A.R.P, or THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS.
Color me disgusted.
ADDENDUM: In the interest of fairness, my fellow Gatherer, John Carville, provided the following perspectie on the issue. I'd love for the implied subversion to have been intentional, but I have my doubts. Still, it's a fair point:
LOL! That's hilarious! Of course, 'Everybody's Happy Nowadays' is a key slogan in Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World'. In that novel, 'everybody' is happy because they're taking mind-altering drugs to keep them that way - as well as the system ticking over - somewhat like in George Lucas's THX1138. In 'Brave New World', as one website puts it, 'happiness derives from consuming mass-produced goods, sports such as Obstacle Golf and Centrifugal Bumble-puppy, promiscuous sex, "the feelies", and most famously of all, a supposedly perfect pleasure-drug, soma.'
In other words, Prozac, golf, shopping and Viagra! Say hello to Florida and the mindlessness of the Modern World!!!!
The fact that the lesser demons making that advert chose 'Everybody's Happy Nowadays' for the soundtrack is a piece of Divine Justice, nothing less. So, thanks for the info. I'm afraid you may have drawn the wrong conclusion from it, though!
'Life's an illusion, love is a dream.'
JC
Oslo, Norway
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