Super Sweet Sounds of the ’70s Used to Sell More Stuff

Supertramp, Grand Funk Railroad, Heart, and Chicago. These legendary bands from the 1970s are now providing consumer brands with one anthemic soundtrack followed by the next.

I have some questions. Like, why use the music of the 70s, versus music from the 80s or 90s? Are the desired buyers all Boomers or are these simply some of the best songs made in the past 50 years?

More importantly (from a craft POV), since when are lyrics in a song a substitute for an original idea? The songs are endowed with their original ideas from their creators. Brands are remaking and remixing these golden oldies, borrowing equity from the musician’s original ideas and altering the meaning for their own commercial purposes. It’s nothing new, and that too is part of the problem.

I like each of the songs in these ads a lot. But I grimace when just one of the ads has anything close to a concept. A soundtrack is not a concept for an ad. It’s atmosphere, color, or tone. Brands are asking too much from the songs, and not enough from their advertising ideas. These songs already mean something to people, and they do not mean “buy more stuff.”