Have you seen the new Hot Pockets ad? It not only features Snoop Dogg, but a complete re-write of his song “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” In the video for “Pocket Like It’s Hot” you not only see Snoop himself, but a giant hot pocket wearing a fur coat dancing around Hot Pocket fly girls celebrating a meat and cheese filled microwave foodstuff.
As cheesy as it is (no pun intended) it sure has people talking about Hot Pockets. The video has had over 2 million views in 5 days and once you’ve seen it, the likelihood of you saying “your munchies get an attitude, pocket like it’s hot.” has probably gone up by 400%.
When you think of musicians in ads, what comes to mind? For some reason I recall when Destiny’s Child starred in a McDonald’s campaign, but more recently Jennifer Lopez’s Fiat promotion went beyond a commercial and into her live performance. There was a lot of criticism after she incorporated a Fiat 500 into her set at American Music Awards.
Of course placing musicians in advertising campaigns isn’t a new thing. If you search around Youtube there are also many classic clips like this one of Sammy Davis Jr. promoting Alka Seltzer as a singing Santa:
Though it’s easy to criticize, having an artists song placed in a commercial can do wonders for a band as well. In many cases, it has helped launch careers. Bedouin Soundclash’s “When The Night Feels My Song” became even more of a radio smash after being featured in a 2006 Zellers commercial. Feist’s “1,2,3,4” became a global success after being used to promote the iPod Nano. Personally, I became obsessed with Gary Jules’ cover of “Mad World” after hearing it in the Xbox Gears of War trailer.
Have you discovered music because of advertising?
Do you care if you see a musician endorse a product? Does it depend on the product? The musician?
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Related:
The Rolling Stones cereal jingle, and more rock ads from the Mad Men era