Inappropriate Commercial Songs

Slate recently ran an article about the inappropriate use of music in commercials. They point to the apparently non-ironic use of "Sixteen Tons" in that new GE commercial with the coal mine supermodels.

Mismatches like these have bothered me in the past, I'll admit. The strangest collision between song and message in recent memory? Sixpence None the Richer's "There She Goes" on a commercial for The Pill. (note: WMV file)

"There she goes? There she goes again? And I just can't contain the feeling that remains?" What does that mean?! Well, she's "racing through my brain", if one listens carefully enough - not "pulling my train", as a later lyric suggests. But it still doesn't quite explain the band's presence here - isn't Sixpence None the Richer a Christian band? Nonetheless, the subliminal imagery scattered throughout the commercial is pretty amusing - the quick cut to the peacock, for example. I'm still trying to figure out what the water lilies mean.

Honorable mention, strangely enough, goes to another pharmaceutical ad in heavy rotation on basic cable - although this one is notable for its use of strange, CG handwriting on women's midriffs. I refer, of course, to the use of Jean-Jacques Perrey's "E.V.A." for Zelnorm, a drug that treats irritable bowel syndrome. Apparently, the buzzes and grooves that Perrey lovingly arranged back in 1969 now translate to explosive diarrhea and constipation in 2005. (Not to mention the occasional freaky flashback to The Exorcist.) Man, I need to get Tivo.