Is it a good idea push your albumn through a commercial when you are always trying to be taken so seriously, even if it is one for a music listening device? I mean Bono is trying to save the world here and now when I hear this song on the radio all I can think of is iPods. I'm not a big U2 fan, but it's kind of a catchy song I might not have minded hearing every so often. Sure it's not one of their deeper songs, but it still is their song. I know U2's core followers are pretty extreme and I'm curious as to whether they are spinning this someway or are up in arms over this. It could be that I've watched far to much baseball on Fox, this commercial pops up quite often during the games.
On the one hand, it seems a harmless enough promotion that is still music-related, at least. If the song was hawking a new burger at McDonald's, I'd be upset.
On the other hand, this does seem to be the closest that U2 has ever come to selling out (if that term even still holds any weight any more in this age of TV appearances, MTV, etc.). If iPod turns out to be the sponsor of their upcoming tour, it's going to be a bad sign. I know that guys like Springsteen have had major tours underwritten by companies and still kept his credibility, but it's always a bit of a disappointment that U2 is doing this now after so many years of playing by their own rules.
I thought their song HOLD ME, THRILL ME, KISS ME, KILL ME for the batman movie was U2's big sell out moment... or was it Kmart and the POPmart tour?
Cerebus: RIP 1977-2004.
"What do you think it's like being created by a manic-depressive, paranoid schizophrenic, hypochondriac, misogynist with delusions of grandeur and a messiah complex?"
Yeah, I was more disappointed about the movie tie-ins than the iPod commercial. I love U2 and don't have any problems with what they're doing, but shouldn't you have been questioning them back when Batman Forever came out? Or Tomb Raider?
-Jag
Yeesh, Tomb Raider. Both were good videos though.
The view from over here:
There's no real difference between me and Joe Conservative as I see it. We both lie, cheat, and steal. It's just that sometimes, deep down, it bothers me.
At this point U2 have pretty much earned the right to do whatever they want. Nobody thought Prince was a sellout when he did the "Batman" soundtrack. If you like their music, then you like their music whether or not it appears in a commercial for iPod, McDonald's, Tampax, or whatever.......
When you're trying to be taken seriously, shilling iPods doesn't really help. Their credibility is for naught, much as it ever was. Bill Hicks was right about advertising.