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Ads: Quantifying Sellout Status

Posted 12/7/2007 3:34 PM by seen

Tags: commercial, rock, indie, shoegazer, seen

 

In a recent Washington Post article, the ongoing debate of artists selling out by offering their music to advertisers was reinvigorated.  Everyone has an opinion on the recent Dylan/XM/Cadillac commercial.  And uh everyone universally agrees on what the verdict was for that Toyota "I Want My MPG" campaign/Dire Straits knockoff.

 

What's interesting about this story is they actually came up with a somewhat clever "Moby Quotient" calculator that allows the reader to extrapolate a sell-out quotient for any ad of their choosing.  The variables you enter include Disconnect (how lame the brand is), Sacredness (how legendary the song is), Origins (how anti-establishment the artist is purported to be), Reputation, Artist Wealth (do they really need the money?), and Time (how long its been since the artist was relevant).  Hit 'enter' and, voila, it spits out a number called the Moby Quotient: the higher the number, the more the artist sold out.

It's a fun idea, but upon closer look our bullshit detector started twitching. While nothing more than a completely subjective exercise, it's still an amusing way to mull over the merits of greedy capitalism over artistic merit, and if a combination of the two could ever be reconciled.  We'll leave you with the below clip: is seminal shoegazer band Lush selling out one of their illest songs ever, or is it just, straight up, a badass jeans commercial?

 


As young directors, art

As young directors, art directors, licensing agents etc. are coming into decision making positions we will see more and more artist lending their music to respectable advertising projects. I don't think great commercials should be knocked. Look at the great work coming out of partizan and paranoid.

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