How long have advertisers been using the hits of today to sell hand cream, motor cars and creosote? Almost as long as we've had TV and rock 'n' roll...
If it's hard to pinpoint the exact moment that bands began advertising brands, it's safe to suggest that America's cola conglomerates have used music stars on the largest possible scale and in the widest variety of ways. It's often been suggested that the watershed moment in this relationship came when the British group the New Seekers was asked by Coca-Cola to amend the lyrics to their hit ‘I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing’ to ones that were flattering towards their product. In actual fact, the Seekers' song was a reworking of the Coke jingle ‘I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke’.
It wasn't long, however, before both Coke and Pepsi were cosying up to the big musical acts of the day. Heck, in the 1980s, Pepsi were even able to persuade Michael Jackson to alter the lyrics of ‘Bad’ to express his fondness for their beverage - a decision that lent a new angle to his being nicknamed the King Of Pop.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to As Luck Would Have It to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.