Good Old Neon

I know you're new here and everything, but the impossibly long sentence with far too many commas to be anything but a joke, is kinda my thing, and consequently, I'm gonna have to ask you, politely, to step off my kool-aid.

Too funny.

Well, there

Na. Writing a jingle for VW is tantamout. "Jeff Tweedy (or Wilco) says drive a VW" is tantamout. 99.9% of the people who see this ad will never know (or even think about) where the song came from. I don't see that as an endorsement.

 

And anyway, don't you have a job, and a wife and baby at home

I keep hearing that used as a defense of both the reason why it is not important that they licensed the song to VW, which is to say, who cares, no one knows who it is anyway, while, conversely, at the same time, being touted as a great new way for folks to be exposed to the band and their music

Yeah but that's completely different, VW simply makes cars, KKK inspires hate.

The product being sold is different, but the underlying intent of the ad is the same - sell VW's.

That's Jeff's voice singing that song in the commercial.

With all do respect, you're being intellectually dishonest.

Nickerson - Why do you watch television? I'm curious.

 

Also, people so totally don't need headphones on to be completely apart from the rest of the world, and I think this thread is good evidence of that. Headphones are only a warning for the rest of us.

Aside from Lost, The Office and PBS

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing he endorsed was his check.

If they released a song to be used in a commercial advertising KKK t-shirts

Jeff Tweedy didn't do an ad endorsing VW. Wilco accepted money to allow VW to create an ad that features one of its songs.

I'm sorry, but that is tantamount to endorsement.

Obviously, commercials are a step up the ladder, but selling art for any purpose objectifies it to some extent. People have been putting music in commercials for as long as commercials have been around. That horse got out of the barn a long time ago. I hardly think Wilco's foray into the world of advertising will have any effect on the debasement of music in general.

I think we all agree that an individual has every right to profit from their art, and by doing so, earn themselves a living. To suggest otherwise would be insane.

Band merchandising, t-shirts

I guess Isaac Brock the rest of Modest Mouse are sellout's too... when has it been a crime musically speaking to feed your children? It's clear to fans that Jeff leads a humble and modest lifestyle, he drives a Honda for Christ sake (sorry Honda owners - it's no Bentley) I agree with OWL, times have changed.

No offense but, if he drives a Honda, well then, why is he, whether indirectly or not, endorsing Volkswagen? Shouldn

You are very good at getting your thoughts across, and its one that lots of people agree with and you have good points to back up your argument. But the point I highlighted I think is very important. The sentence before it is an opinion. It's valid and fine and I somewhat agree with it, but clearly some people on this board haven't lost anything, tangible or not, because of Jeff's decision to sell his music.

 

Sidenote: you seem like a nice guy after all and you'll end up fitting in well here.

Selling art solely for the purpose of advertising objectifies art itself - the best, purest and most profound contribution humans have to offer

He's saying "selling out" has everything to do with Tweedy's principles, and nothing to do with yours.

But, just because Tweedy

I don't know which of his books. He is an environmentalist. You're a good teacher, and I am a good student.

Gollum?

I'm okay, you're okay! With due respect, I can't meet you in such a liberal arts college Happy Place. It'd sure be nice if I could, but this particular principle of mine is one of the few I consider inviolable. Are you asking me to change my way of thinking with this paragraph, even after I've amply demonstrated that this leopard's spots ain't about to change, or are you simply stating that others are entitled to their take on this scenario? Because if it's the former, you haven't been paying attention to what I've been saying. And if it's the latter, you still haven't been paying attention.

 

When you're helping to sell a product, whether you're wearing a necktie or a guitar, above all else, you're a pitchman. That's my take. Some people can justify it, and hey, power to you guys! But regardless of how I turn it, I can't. Again, if you can whittle away at the scenario until it takes the shape of something that's comfortable to you, I have no issue with you. Believe me, I'm no armchair totalitarian; I'd actually have to care about your opinions if I wanted them to match my own, and as I've said before, you're free to think and feel however you'd like. Just please don't presume that I can find a similarly comfortable vantage for myself when the reality of the situation is that a) yes, if you can believe it, I actually find this sort of collusion between ad execs and recording artists crass, and a number of songs have been ruined for me across the years by car companies, travel agencies and the like because they've been chopped and channeled and spit in my face half a dozen times a day. In fact, this is one of the main reasons I stopped watching television years ago, right up there with the onslaught of reality programming created to court, ostensibly, fucking idiots with absolutely nothing else to do.

 

What happens when I look at this from a less rigid, sort of hypothetical POV? Not much, really. If Jeff Tweedy were a starving artist, and VW wanted to pay him lots of money to use his song in one of their campaigns - great! I'd be very happy that a talented musician and his family get to eat for a month, but I'd still be terribly disappointed that he had to become an ad man in order for it to happen. I'll always be disappointed when this sort of thing happens. And I'll always grow weary of seeing songs I learned to love as independent entities treated as jingles.

 

Clearly there are people here who don't agree with my position, and that's fine, but there are an equal number of people who would deny me it. It's these chow-heads I have a problem with.

 

(Mods - can I get tag under my name that identifies me as VC's own irascible Harlan Ellison? I'd like that. Thanks.)

Very well said.

Whoa.........you really are Mike Watt!!!!!

I keed ,I keed!!!! -Robert.

Down with the bass!!

This is not going to help Miles recover any faster.

Or mjpuczko when I'm through with him - one would sort of have to think.

is this, like, a sex thing?

 

crevices?

 

dude.

I

dude, i'm sure we could find plenty of people on here, and probably lots of other boards, who could persuasively argue that you don't deserve a cookie.

 

anyway, fan/fat.boy(s) are currently doing their fair share to reach the golden 50, at which point, to fill in the uninitiated, m christine, or another lovely moderator, will either PM icecream vouchers to all of us, or, more likely, deliver a scoop of cherry garcia to us by hand!*

 

[/size]

Kindly provide me with the names and address' of these folks who would deny me this cookie and I will ensure that they are thoroughly persuaded to the contrary

holy shit! i just realised they were two different people. obviously this is a multiple log-in. if i uncover any evidence that fat.boys 1 and 2 are in fact the same person, i'll make sure 'they' only get one serving of icecream between them.

Well then, I would like to note that the jnickerson who offended everyone is not me, and all we have in common is a screen name. In fact, I

and jnickerson, don't think that just because you've been staring at a screen all day and all night, and have posted 100 messages in one thread, pissed off tons of people, been called a troll, and dutifully replied to every single question...

 

...don't think that you're getting any more icecream than anyone else. cos you're not. we're all getting the same amount.

I think it only fair that the person whose post eventually resulted in free ice cream for everyone deserves at least an extra scoop

well, you're going to have to come to my office & break my nose. i don't like it.

Name, address and next of kin please

and custard.

 

I'm flustered.

 

...anything else?

clustered?

I absolutely love "When Your Heartstrings Break

if this thread makes it to 50 pages, i think everyone who has contributed should get an icecream.

Well, if that

That being said, however, I personally see a big difference in a band like U2 establishing one of their hits to be used as the backbone of an entire ad campaign, complete with their own special edition and more expensive red and black iPod, and a band like Wilco allowing an unreleased B-side to be used as essentially background music for a single car ad.

I have zero intention of reopening this line of discussion, but for accuracy

It's a great album.

Although I think it had a bit of a polarizing effect around here.

Oh dear lord no

Ahem