I’m unclear as to what specifically is clever about the various usages of music in some of the adverts here? To me the clever ones are those where the music becomes associated with the brand (or product) such that for many people simply hearing the tune immediately brings memories or images of the advertised brand. The cleverness there is recognising the association between music and memory, and using repetition over time with the same music even when the images may change. Three tunes that immediately come to mind are:
Excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker advertising Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut chocolate
The flower duet from Lakmé by Delibes advertising British Airways Air on a G string from one of JS Bach’s suites advertising Hamlet cigars ((that was a long time ago!)
I actually detest the practice of using existing music, as it spoils the music for me by recalling the advert when I hear the music.
Maybe not an irritating jingle, however I wouldn’t call it clever use of music at all: rather it is clever (and amusing) filming to music. The music actually has nothing to do with the product being advertised, nor indeed does the imagery. It would be a lot more relevant if it was an advert for gorilla glue!
The cleverest use of music in an advert I can think of at the moment was the Cadbury’s Flake series. I didn’t think the music was original, but it was modified, and more particularly it had a product specific lyric added. That, combined with memorable imagery created adverts a few people forgot once seen.
Once, but only once when I saw the band Twelfth Night, Geoff Mann sang a little ditty to the tune of the flake advert, the words being: “only the crumbly flakiest skin remains on your body after nuclear war”. Given that this was about 1982, at the height of the Cold War and Mutually Assured Destruction, combined with the catchiness of the tune, my memory that is as clear as the moment I heard it .
Presumably because they didn’t watch television when Lone Ranger was on! It doesn’t make me think of lone Ranger, probably because it is so very long since I saw the series: Instead I am transported to the times I saw PFM (Premiata Forneria Marconi), because every time I saw them their violinist played William Tell, starting moderato and finishing prestissimo!
