That Lincoln car ad with Beverly Kenney singing

[Larry Kart]

"It Could happen To You."

Some thoughts about this. How did some ad agency person hit upon this recording to fit the mood of this ad? Kenney, after all, killed herself back in 1960 and remains fairly obscure except in cabaret maven circles. Was this ad person just an off-the-wall Kenney fan? Or did he/she start searching for versions of this song -- Kenney's is on You Tube -- and decide that it was just right? BTW, when my wife first saw this commercial, she asked who is this singing? I said, more or less out of nowhere, I think it's Beverly Kenney or maybe Joannie Sommers.

Second, isn't this on some level a pandemic-era commercial. The woman in the ad, with the car seat reclined as for a nice long snooze,  has safely isolated herself in her luxury vehicle. Also, what what about the title of the song?

And now will someone  explain to me the fairly outre choice of characters in that ubiquitous commercial for the AIDS drug, Biktarvi? (sp?) I'm thinking in particular of that fairly immense woman who is embracing/dancing with  a much shorter semi-bald thinner man with a needle nose? And then they're in a bathtub washing a large white dog. The two guys at the end of the ad who are kissing on a roof top, that I get, but the Jack Sprat and his girlfriend couple? What's the demographic there? I mean someone at the ad agency must have put a lot of thought into this. 

[Teasing the Korean]

1 minute ago, Larry Kart said:

"It Could happen To You."

Some thoughts about this. How did some ad agency person hit upon this recording to fit the mood of this ad?

In recent decades, there have been some music obsessives who essentially hit the lottery and were able to turn their obsessions into very lucrative careers, placing obscure or semi-obscure music in film, TV, and commercials.  I'm willing to bet that is what happened here.  

Nice work if you can get it.

[Larry Kart]

My wife when right out of college worked for a while for a NYC ad agency where there was a group of people who did nothing but listen to music all day long. Then they'd give her lists of songs and she'd go to a record store and buy albums that had those songs on them.

[jazzbo]

6 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

In recent decades, there have been some music obsessives who essentially hit the lottery and were able to turn their obsessions into very lucrative careers, placing obscure or semi-obscure music in film, TV, and commercials.  I'm willing to bet that is what happened here.  

Nice work if you can get it.

I can remember when local Austin band leader Bill Carter of Bill Carter and the Blame had his song "Why Get Up" (covered by the Fabulous Thunderbirds on LP) picked up by Kellogg for use in commercials for their cereal. He was a lucky dog. . . that was a good year for him.

[Teasing the Korean]

41 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

My wife when right out of college worked for a while for a NYC ad agency where there was a group of people who did nothing but listen to music all day long. Then they'd give her lists of songs and she'd go to a record store and buy albums that had those songs on them.

Yep.

The trend toward finding the obscure older stuff really started in the late 1990s/early 2000s, especially with Wes Anderson films.  A musician friend of mine knows the guy who got that gig.  He hit the jackpot.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[medjuck]

Nina Simone had a resurgence when one of her songs was used in a UK commercial. 

[JSngry]

People wonder why people are buying catalogs with no intention of ever releasing records. Well...