Selling Out

Anybody else ever wonder what happened to artistic integrity? Ever think that the advertising industry couldn't possibly develop anymore insidiously insipid ways to convince you that you absolutely need some item of useless crap? If so, this post probably won't make you feel any better. While this should come as no shock to anybody who has watched a movie or TV show in the last six decades, product placement now unequivocally extends to the music world.

I won't go into too much detail because Eliot Van Buskirk at Wired has already done an admirable job. However, the gist of it is that "...Kluger explained via e-mail that for the right price, Double Happiness Jeans could find its way into the lyrics in an upcoming Pussycat Dolls song...The thing is, Double Happiness Jeans is not your everyday brand -- it's a virtual sweatshop organized by EyeBeam for a display at the Sundance Festival, which involves paying Second Life citizens 90 cents an hour to make real, customized jeans designed in the virtual factory." Jeff Crouse, the e-mails recipient, also happens to be affiliated with the Anti-Advertising Agency, a group vehemenantly opposed to exactly that sort of thing, and promptly posted the e-mail on his website. Kluger is now suing Crouse for disparaging comments left on the post. This is right up there with Bill O'Reilly lambasting Daily Kos for comments left on several of their threads, calling them hate-mongers. I thought it was reasonably well-established that bloggers were not responsible for the content of their reader's comments. We'll see. In the meantime feel free to leave any comments you want here.

Check out Neil Young's This Note's For You for great commentary on product placement in music--although I've always quibbled that by mentioning the names Pepsi and Coke, even in railing against them, that he does in fact advertise for them (remember, all publicity is good publicity, which probably explains Kluger's lawsuit, which could only serve to draw greater attention to his imbecility). Still, great song with a smokey nightclub feel.

Also check out Bill Hicks on marketing. I agree with his sentiments almost completely. I say almost only because to a very limited extent marketing is essential for making us aware of unknown products that may actually be useful in our lives. Suffice to say, the percentage that actually accomplishes that is miniscule.