The Endorsements Start... Now!
Last night while lying on the couch, dozing off, I was startled to hear the sound of Steve Earle's "The Revolution Starts Now" leaping from my television speakers and waking me from a light nap. As I turned, curious to see exactly why Steve Earle was on television (had I left it on MTV, is MTV playing videos now!?) I saw a giant Chevy Truck roaring along my screen.
I wiped my eyes in amazement. What was this on my television?
Well, I'll tell you what it is, it's Steve Earle peddling Chevy pickups. Wow, what integrity. I wasn't aware that an artist that so proudly rides the line between ordinary lefty and proud socialist could become a corporate mascot. This changes everything! I now want to see Bob Marley ads for Skittles, Gil-Scott Heron pitching Zenith Televisions, and The Ramones in... well, nevermind that one.
I have no real problem with artists "selling out" to the man. Sometimes a man just needs to buy a sammich and I can understand that. But when you license out your protest song, your own personal political statement to a company that works against what you claim to be supporting, then I'll throw stones all day long. I'm sure that Steve Earle shakes his head in disgust when he sees what GM outsourcing has done to the cities it helped to build, and I'm sure he shakes his head in disgust when he sees Hummers and Suburbans roaring down the highway, sucking up 8 mpg. Unfortunately he didn't seem to shake it too much when he was offered a little bit of cash to help them sell some cars.
Maybe it's all just a clever joke. Chevy noticed that fat contract that Ford offered Toby Keith to sing endlessly about Ford Trucks and decided to appeal to the complete and total opposite demographic. At least it'll make for an interesting episode of MTV's Celebrity Death Match.
Last night while lying on the couch, dozing off, I was startled to hear the sound of Steve Earle's "The Revolution Starts Now" leaping from my television speakers and waking me from a light nap. As I turned, curious to see exactly why Steve Earle was on television (had I left it on MTV, is MTV playing videos now!?) I saw a giant Chevy Truck roaring along my screen.
I wiped my eyes in amazement. What was this on my television?
Well, I'll tell you what it is, it's Steve Earle peddling Chevy pickups. Wow, what integrity. I wasn't aware that an artist that so proudly rides the line between ordinary lefty and proud socialist could become a corporate mascot. This changes everything! I now want to see Bob Marley ads for Skittles, Gil-Scott Heron pitching Zenith Televisions, and The Ramones in... well, nevermind that one.
I have no real problem with artists "selling out" to the man. Sometimes a man just needs to buy a sammich and I can understand that. But when you license out your protest song, your own personal political statement to a company that works against what you claim to be supporting, then I'll throw stones all day long. I'm sure that Steve Earle shakes his head in disgust when he sees what GM outsourcing has done to the cities it helped to build, and I'm sure he shakes his head in disgust when he sees Hummers and Suburbans roaring down the highway, sucking up 8 mpg. Unfortunately he didn't seem to shake it too much when he was offered a little bit of cash to help them sell some cars.
Maybe it's all just a clever joke. Chevy noticed that fat contract that Ford offered Toby Keith to sing endlessly about Ford Trucks and decided to appeal to the complete and total opposite demographic. At least it'll make for an interesting episode of MTV's Celebrity Death Match.
posted by Cory | 11:05 AM
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