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March 28, 2006
This Note's For You
It was only a few months ago that Red Hat started using a couple of Jacuzzi Brothers tracks in an online mini-movie about the Red Hat Intern Program. Today the open-source software company announced that revenue had surged by 37%, quarterly profit had more than doubled since a year ago, and earnings per share had exceeded Wall Street's expectations. Coincidence? I think not. Sure, RHAT has already dropped a bit in this evening's after-hours trading, but that's to be expected given the fact that the stock has nearly tripled in value over the last year. Clearly, investors are bullish on the new Jacuzzi-scored ad campaign!
On a related note....about a month ago The News and Observer ran a front-page AP story about independent bands who had refused to license their music for use in Hummer advertisements. Right there in the opening paragraph was the news that our old friends/rock idols Trans Am were offered a jawdropping $180,000 for the song "Total Information Awareness" (from their 2004 album Liberation). Like LiLiPUT and The Thermals, Trans Am stuck to their principles and told Hummer to take a hike. Now I have nothing but love and respect for dem TransAm boys...I'm a huge fan of their music and I admire them for taking the stance that they did. But I couldn't help wondering to myself if I would've done the same thing if I were in their shoes and someone offered me 180K. I mean, unless Hummer wanted my band to make a complete fool of itself by playing in Hummer showcases or appearing in icky print and TV ads, I think that I would've just let them use the song, cashed the check, donated a big chunk of Hummer's money to the Sierra Club, and then chuckled to myself knowing that every meal and every drink that I bought over the next couple of years would basically come straight out of Hummer's bottom line. Who's zoomin' who in that situation? But maybe that's just my hypothetical logic at work. Pitchfork recently published some more extensive quotes about the Hummer offers from Trans Am's Phil Manley and one of the guys from The Thermals. I definitely see their points and I understand their reluctance to go down that slippery slope of selling out.
Regardless of the outcome, however, here's what's truly ironic about the Hummer proposal that Trans Am received:
1. The Hummer brand name is owned by General Motors, and although AM General does much of the Hummer manufacturing, all Hummers/H2s/H3s are marketed and distributed by GM. General Motors also has this little division/brand called Pontiac....and the Trans Am is only one of the most famous Pontiac cars of all time. So it's a good thing that the Hummer proposal never came in the form of a let-GM-use-your-music-or-cease-and-desist letter!
2. Throughout the mid-to-late 1990s, Trans Am released some of the most fun and adrenaline-charged car-driving anthems that record-store credit could buy. 2004's politically-charged and decidedly anti-administration Liberation is a far more "serious" album (check out the Bush-sampling "Uninvited Guest" for an example)...and yet that's the Trans Am record that someone finally wanted for an automobile ad? Too strange.
Of course, a third smaller irony is that at the very moment I type this, Tom Scharpling is probably once again using Trans Am's excellent "Enforcer" (from the band's awesome 1996 debut) as the soundbed for his talksets on "The Best Show on WFMU". Now that's a priceless honor...
Posted by Tim at March 28, 2006 10:42 PM
Comments
That is so fucking awesome! Trans Am is great driving music, so I can understand why Hummer wanted it. But now I love them even more for saying no. Imagine spending the rest of your life knowing you helped sell Hummers that rape both the economy and the planet. Echh.
Plus no way would Trans Am ever be cool again. ;-)
Posted by: Ruby Sinreich at March 29, 2006 01:15 PM
I woulda done it and sent a check to the Sierra Club, like Tim sez.
Posted by: Ricky D at March 30, 2006 02:40 PM
Oh yeah, did you know Fischerspooner did the music for several Hummer commercials?
Posted by: Ricky D at March 30, 2006 02:43 PM
taking corportate money from a brand like Hummer could come back to haunt you. especially if its the type of band to support any type of progressive earth-friendly activism. but then it's like, people have student loans and car payments. 180K could really help out in the ole "get out of debt before i turn 50" dream so many of us have. i guess you gotta take it case by case.
but as one who HATES Hummer, and basically everything it stands for, i appreciate the gesture, irrespective of their reasoning.
Posted by: yonni at March 31, 2006 11:24 AM