Week 2: Using Music to Advertise

I know we watched a video in class that directly dealt with this subject, but I went a little further to research some of the history behind it.

Here is one of my favorite "music" ads in recent years.

Click me! Click me!

As you can see, there really is very little to this ad. Yes, there is a coincidence between the lyrics of the song and what is happening in the commercial, but what really sticks out about the ad is the song. Royksopp's song is super catchy, and I love the way it sounds... so much so Geico could leave the screen blank with just their name, and it would be an effective ad. The song carries the entire ad on its back and advertisers have been doing it for years.

This use of a medium originated farther back than I had ever imagined. Even before their was radios and much less movies, advertisers were even using sheet music to get their messages across.

And even before this, back in mid-evil times, street vendors sold their goods to the tune of melodic tunes. As you know many advertisers now a' days use tunes specifically made for their product. These little jingles that stick in your head are a marketer's dream.... Just think how many you can think of off the top of your head right now....

So even before there was radio people understood the power of music to help spread their music. And now you can't see on tv or hear an ad on the radio that doesn't have a song attached to it.