Damn that integrity

Wouldn't touch it with a ten foot poll


Bah Hummer
Indie rockers reject big money from the king of gas guzzlers
By Otis Hart
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The Thermals, a rambunctious rock band from Portland, Ore., were en route between gigs last year when they got a phone call from their label, Sub Pop. Hummer wanted to pay them $50,000 for the right to use their song "It's Trivia" in a commercial.

Portland, Ore., trio The Thermals turned down a $50,000 licensing deal from Hummer.

Trans Am, an electronic rock band from Washington, spurned $180,000 in ad money from Hummer.

"We thought about it for about 15 seconds, maybe," lead singer Hutch Harris said.

They said no.
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The post-punk band LiLiPUT, who broke up more than 20 years ago, could have pocketed $50,000 for "Heidi's Head" after making close to nothing during their five-year existence. But they, too, said no.

"At least I can sleep without nightmares," Marlene Marder reasoned.

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Lyle Hysen runs Bank Robber Music, a licensing group that pitches songs to film, television and advertisement companies. He's gotten his clients featured in shows like "Six Feet Under" and "The L Word" and in car ads by Volkswagen and Jaguar.

Hummer, however, has been a nonstarter.

"My standard line is you guys will play a hundred million gigs before you see this amount of money," Hysen said. "Usually they come back with, 'We'll do anything BUT Hummer.'"
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"It's not about the money," Manley said. "It's the principle."

While multi-platinum artists like Talking Heads and Smashing Pumpkins have declined, more of the "thanks-but-no-thanks" crowd are musicians who would benefit greatly by the exposure that accompanies a national ad campaign, like electronic artists Caribou and Four Tet, or acid-bluesmen the Soledad Brothers.

"It had to be the worst product you could give a song to," Harris said. "It was a really easy decision. How could we go on after soundtracking Hummer? It's just so evil."

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Lance Jensen, president of the advertising agency Modernista, is the creative mind behind the Hummer campaign, and has seen firsthand what prime-time, 30-second spots can do for unheard artists — six years ago, he used cult-folk hero Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" in a Volkswagen commercial, which single-handedly triggered a Drake renaissance and probably led to what we now call "yup-rock" (polite indie rock for the upwardly mobile).

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Jensen's Modernista has produced some of the most innovative car commercials ever. They avoid pitchmen — hell, they avoid people most of the time — and focus on visual spectacle. And a big part of attracting eyeballs is giving people a sound that will turn their heads.

Unfortunately for Hummer, many artists aren't listening.

Getting music into ads has been a lifesaver for established musicians like Sting and Paul McCartney. These people are doing more than passing up a fat paycheck by having integrity, but national exposure which could lead to much more money, maybe even a hit record.

This is no small decision.

posted by Steve @ 5:31:00 PM