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| Do you remember when the dancing raisins "Heard it Through the Grapevine"? |
I watch commercials on television, during those rare times when I actually watch TV. Mostly I listen to the lyrics to see how a popular song has been re-worded to suit the advertiser. Some of them are quite creative. Some of them aren't.
My favorite back in 2008 was an AT&T ad that played with "The Name Game": "Let's call Judy – Judy, Judy bo boody, banana fanana mo boody" – or something close to that. It was a long commercial and looked pretty expensive. A shorter toothpaste ad used the same jingle, but "bubble bubble bo bubble" never sat as well as Judy.
To be sure, I didn't know the tune was taken from an oldie ("The Name Game") until I heard the original on the radio. Just one more example of pop music rearranged, though tastefully done by Ma Bell, I thought.
Commercials distort songs all the time. Around the same time period, the dancing raisins of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" caused a sensation. You could buy the little clay critters in stores (and one sits on my bookcase).
"Get Closer" extolled fresh breath for years, while the "Anticipation" of ketchup from a bottle was a slogan for so long that I still can’t hear Carly Simon without picturing a slow pour.
The list could go on, but you get the idea.
And mostly, it's okay. I like hearing the commercials. They're part of my heritage as a TV child. It's only when the song is so irritatingly different from the original that I get annoyed, which is why "bubble bubble bo bubble" didn't sit as well as "Judy Judy Bo Boody," I suspect.
As a bad example, a pantyhose producer took ZZ Top's "Legs" – a gritty rock anthem – and slowed it down with female singers. My husband, an ardent rock and roll fan, nearly threw his coffee mug through the TV screen.
These days, Fleetwood Mac has become a favorite target for advertisers. I recently heard "Go Your Own Way" reworked for PayPal into "Pay Your Own Way," with Will Ferrell mugging at the camera.
Lexus took "Landslide" for their holiday campaign, wrapping a family's generational history around a luxury SUV. And don't get me started on "Everywhere," which has been selling everything from cars to credit cards.
Beautiful songs, all of them. But hearing Stevie Nicks belting out a financing offer still feels strange.
Maybe the ad representatives know exactly what they're doing. A familiar tune makes you look up from your magazine – or, these days, from your phone. It pulls you back from the fridge a little quicker. They realize the viewer will return, if only to groan.
And you know what? I think they're still right.
I just wish they'd leave "Landslide" for crying in the car, not leasing it.
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Original version published in 2008 in The Fincastle Herald. Updated and revised in 2026.
Great post! You're right about the motivation – music does pull you in. But it's good, tried-and-true music, not necessarily familiar. A few years ago, State Farm used a 1950 recording of Doris Day singing "A Bushel and a Peck" in a commercial. The vast majority of the audience had no idea it was an old American song by an established artist. To them it just captured their attention because it sounded good and different. So Fleetwood Mac is a really good choice because to some demographics, it's familiar and to other age groups, it's different and appealing.
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