We write about rock stars selling their catalogs but we don’t talk about what that means.
Tonight, we heard Bruce Springsteen’s signature song, “Born to Run,” in a song for Dove soap. It was sung and played by Gabi Wilson, aka HER Music.
It’s the first time “Born to Run” has ever been in a commercial. But it was bound to happen once Springsteen sold his music catalog for around $500 million. The money has to be made back somehow.
Bruce did a commercial himself in 2021 for Jeep, but it didn’t contain songs. It was just him, talking.
So the mighty have fallen. Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” has been turning up all over the place lately. Sam & Dave’s “Hold On I’m Coming” is very popular. Steve Winwood’s “Gimme Some Lovin” is currently being used for an ice cream commercial.
Every now and then we hear a Beatles song, but it’s always done tastefully and the licenses seem to have short runs.
For people of a certain age, it’s jolting to hear great rock songs of the classic era in this context. But the writers and performers get paid, and it could be worse. The ad agencies could be using hip hop or rap.
There’s a downside, though: I played Carly Simon’s “Anticipation” for a young person recently, and they said, “Oh, the ketchup song.” Yikes!
On Twitter, someone asked E Street Band impresario if he’d ever heard “Born to Run” in a commercial. He answered in the ngative, and said it surprised him.
It surprised us, too.
