Rock and Roll being misappropriated by “The Man”.

There’s a new commercial for Helzberg Jewelers (I’m not sure if this is a national chain, or a more regional operation) which has as its theme “Mojo Box” by Southern Culture on the Skids. I find it more than just a little sad that the first SCOTS song to break free of the “novelty” label was immediately co-opted by corporate America and is being ruined via sheer repetition. I guess that it’s a good thing for the band, but still…

I also seriously doubt that Iggy Pop was even remotely thinking of Carnival Cruise Lines when he and David Bowie penned the immortal words:

Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And the flesh machine
He’s gonna do another strip tease.
Hey man, where’d ya get that lotion?
I’ve been hurting since I’ve bought the gimmick
About something called love
Yeah, something called love.
Well, that’s like hypnotizing chickens.

But… it is kinda fun to sing along to the commercial… and I suppose that the whole thing is, in some way, “like hypnotizing chickens” if you really think about it.

I suppose it’s a sure sign you’re getting old when your favorite songs start turning up in TV commercials.

Led Zeppelin hawking Cadillacs,
Devo pushing Mitsubishis (see my earlier Devo Trilogy for more on this), Iggy Pop urging me to take a cruise,
Southern Culture on the Skids telling me to buy diamond jewelry for my sweetie (this is the same band, after all, who said: “You cannot buy true love, but you can shoot its ass”). They should be selling shotguns, or “Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies”.

None of this approaches the level of sacrilege of the Beatle’s “Revolution” being used to sell Nikes, but it’s all very disheartening, nonetheless.