It's at YouTube and presumably every other viral video site.
We've spoken at length about indie rock commercial jingles, so instead of rehashing past posts...
What's your verdict? Stereogum's = who gives a fuck. The White Stripes can shill for Depends and we'll still love 'em.
Posted at 3:11 PM
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i really like the song. at the very least it's super catchy. the ad itself is just ok in my opinion.
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Is it Gondry-directed?
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If that is not gondry-directed, he just got ripped off.
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Drinking Soda? So completely stupid.
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director = nagi noda
another video by the same director:
http://www.dandad.org/awards2005/entry.asp?entry_id=V_11442
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I guess I'm tiring of Jack (I hated Get Behind...) and this doesn't help. Also not helping is the line "it's the right thing to do". Although in the song he's talking about love, in regards to the product it seems too calculated... "coke, it's the right thing to do". Aside from all of that, it's no "I'd like to give the world a coke". And I think it needed to be for it to be a positive for Jack.
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Hate it. No further comment.
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It's a tough subject. But it's dumb that Whites Stripes did it, 'cause they are already rich. They're not Catpower or whatever.
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Yup, it's turbo lame.
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"It's the right thing to do"? Fuck you, Jack White. Shilling for Coke cheapens everything you have done and will do. As if they need any help peddling their sugar water. But hey, at least a Coke shirt will fit in nicely with your wardrobe.
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jack and coke?
fine.
jack white and coke?
not so much.
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Maybe Jack White goddam likes Coca-Cola.
I'd do a commercial for Mountain Dew. Even if I were a rich man.
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It's kinda sellout... rue nailed it with that comment....
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if it weren't a terrible jingle, maybe it would be cool. the videos kind of cool. but otherwise its so blatantly lame. the lyrics and stuff. oh well though. does anyone know how much money got? :/
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Coke is not a good company. A recent article in the nation details their complete disregard for human rights, or human life, in Columbia.
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It's bullshit. And he's going ridiculous tirades on his website? He's the number one person to talk shit about people not "keeping it real." He's getting to be just as bad as Kanye.
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As I get older, I can see more things in shades of gray: as a dedicated music fan with strong roots in punk ethics, I say fuck selling out. But as someone who realizes Jack White's gotta feed his family too, then go for it.
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Look, he didn't sell a White Stripes song to Coke. It's not even a new White Stripes song. It's a Jack White song. He loves Coke - claims to drink 7 cans a day or something like that. Does this tarnish the legacy of The White Stripes? I don't see how it does. I'm with Scott!
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Why does this surprise anyone?
Even Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols has been reduced to doing (really really awful) Toyota commercials on his radio station Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles. I throw up a little every time I hear them. So much for rock credibility.
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Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
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No, because it's a motherfucking commercial.
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Man, everybody calm down. Jesus.
Jack White drinks Coke. So do I. Now I can drink Coke and listen to a Jack White jingle.
What does 'selling out' even mean anymore?
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It's stupid to call Jack White a sellout for writing a jingle for Coke.
It's not stupid to point out the hypocrisy in turning down a Gap ad but doing one for Coke, even if it is just an original song and nothing more.
But as we have seen, White's been following less and less the rigor he started out with musically, aesthetically and commercially. That's not necessarily a bad thing either. Since he's established himself in the mainstream music world moreso than Cat Power, Iron & Wine and other acts who've turned to commercials for a little cash on the side, it's not that he's using this platform as a way to get more exposure. He doesn't need it.
Now Cat Power shilling cell phones and Iron & Wine hocking chocolates, given that they haven't cemented their status and are still trying to sink their hooks into the mainstream, that's much different. Sam Beam especially, with that infamous cover of his, seemed to be really trying to get his stuff out there. That means, for wide audiences, his song is tied to a kaleidoscope of M&M's. Not so good for his future, in my opinion.
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I'm going to emulate my beloved President and say it was completely horrible, 100% detestable, and I haven't seen it. How dare you, Mr. White (if that is even your ex wife's real name), sully the good people of Indie-apolis by selling a product you believe in?!? Ptooey! That's what I say! Ptooey and double-ptooey!!
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Coke sucks. Jack doesn't.
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Hello, you can say anything you want... Jack's a sellout yada yada, but after hours of watching it that tune is still in my head... it's the right thing to do, bah bah bah bah...
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Honestly, I like pepsi more.
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Yeah, I've also read that Jack is a Coke fiend. This doesn't make me like the White Stripes any less, but then, I can't off the top of my head think of any commercials that have.
I mean, if he likes their product, and he wants to something with them 'cause he feels like it, then whatever, I don't care. Selling out is the new not selling out
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go jack go!!
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i'm more of a diet coke girl myself. and no, I don't mean I use coke for my diet! though I think jack may. can't you just see it? anyway, coke or no coke, he's a great guitar player and he can do whatever he wants to, and i'll still love him.
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if he had just written the song and did the commercial and got paid, i wouldn't have batted an eyelash. but the fact that he came out with that bs statement about the ad campaign appealing to him because it was about "a theme of love in a worldwide form" was either: a cheap way of hiding that he was doing it for the money (which would have been fine) or hugely ironic considering the kind of love coke spreads to latin americans who have the gall to unionize.
he still makes good music, but if you're going to do a commercial, just do it, and save the lame explanations.
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jack white has made coke cool
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Let's face it, call it 'sell out' or 'give in', if a man's passion means so little to him that he would sell those very ideas to a branded product then why should that passion mean anything to us? I know that there is little money to be made in music, due to downloading and copying (supposedly), but White is already an established artist. I'm sure he's not short of a few dollars. Alternative Rock is long dead. It has no morals, no integrity.
Ad makers don't use the tracks 'cause they think it's 'hip' or 'slammingly beautiful', they use them 'cause they think that it'll appeal to indie idiots, 18 - 30, to sell more product. Judging by the comments, they've succeeded...
If any of my favourite musicians/artists ever degrade their worth by selling it for commercial fodder, I'll develop a time machine, go back in time, find their pregnant mother, and abort their fucking souless fetus from her. I'm that passionate about it... and so should they be... (sigh)
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Pepsi tastes like raisins to me. Tough crowd, I mean Jack drinks Coke but he doesn't shop at the Gap. Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry aren't sell-outs for making commercials why would Jack be?
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anything is better than "id like to teach the world to chill"
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hmmm. i don't really give a damn what jack does outside of his music as long as he keeps doing his music. go jack.
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you people would have hated this no matter what it looked/sounded like.
and you would all probably gouge out a puppy's eyes for a million dollars. I know I would.
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I hope you guys complaining about 'selling-out' and 'giving in' are enjoying your time in your hermetically-sealed chambers that protect you from all outside influences. Must be nice to never drink any commercially produced beverages; never purchase anything from a Wal-Mart or a Circle K or a 7-11; not to have to shop or involve oneself in any publicly-traded company. 'Cause see, that's basically the standard you're holding Jack White up to.
He LIKES Coke. He wrote them a SONG. Period.
Are there valid complaints in Columbia about the KOFESMA company? Likely so. Of course, you could find similar complaints about almost every corporation in existence. Beside the fact that KOFESMA is actually a company independent of the Coca-Cola corporation based in the United States. But hey, why bother with specifics when we can throw around statements like 'COKE MURDERS UNION LEADERS'? It makes for better copy.
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If your tastes are influenced by whether or not an artist's song is used in a commercial, you have a weak and malleable mind.
I remember being in a record store and overhearing a DJ say, "I listen to the radio so I know what NOT to play."
I had to say to him, "So basically the radio is controlling what you play."
I was suprised when he said, "You know, I never thought of it that way."
I credit Jack White for writing a Coke commercial, more power to him.
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This generation has been brought up in a "get your money, player" culture that they don't see anything wrong with commercial endorsement.
For someone like Jessica Simpson its expected, but Jack has railed against it, so it seems very hypocritical to me and I think that sucks.
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I agree with Mimi's comment about this generation.
The fact that Jack drinks tons of Coke doesn't mean he hasn't sold out. He's always criticizing society and modernity, so he should expect criticism.
Besides, Jack's teeth are testament enough about the evils of Coke.
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I'm so damn thristy...going to get a coke and hate every last delicious sip. Fuck you Jack. FUCK YOU!
ps- I don't give a shit that he did this, but spare us the self rightousness on your next website rant.
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very cool, there's also a really good jack white video at google video
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nice one
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Oh, and about Jack's rant on his website. So what. Like nobody here has ever flown off the handle about something. Maybe he was having a bad day.
Maybe that's why this country has so many lawyers, we all love to judge one another.
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jack has long passed relevance. coke commercials seem fairly natural.
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I think Iggy Pop should fire Jack as producer of part of the new Stooges album now that Jack has done this. Oh wait I forgot Iggy gave Lust For Life to Royal Carribean and appeared in a Motorola ad, so he probably doesn't care. I can't believe Bob Dylan played with Jack in concert, but he did that Victoria's Secret ad didn't he? Then Jimmy Page appeared with him on Guitar World, what a dumbass! But wait didn't Led Zeppelin license one of their songs to a car commercial? How could I forget The Rolling Stones letting The White Stripes open for them? Mick and Keith have now been tainted by the corporate whore. Oh they wrote a jingle for cereal you say? And they appeared in a life insurance commercial? I heard Jack shook Paul McCartney's hand when they were on Top of the Pops. I'll bet Paul regrets that, but hey didn't he do a Fidelity Investment commercial? Jesus Christ what a bunch of corporate whores!! There is no possible way any of these men could have passion for the music they make.
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Some people say that sarcasm doesn't read on the Internet, but I'd like to be the first to say well done, Laurie.
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This is so pathetic and lame. "He has to feed his family." Yeah, just like Latrell Spreewell does. Jack White is a rich rock star. I know "alternative" an outdated term, but isn't indie rock supposed to be an alternative to something? We may disagree on what that something is, but I guarantee you it's supposed to be something like a fucking Coca-Cola commercial. Our country is turning into a strip mall and everyone's too fucking cool to care about it. "Hey, whatever, he probably just likes Coke and wants money." Well, I thought our music at least had some connection to Punk ethics, but I guess not.
I see absolutely no difference between this Coke commercial bullshit and American Idol. Fuck him and fuck all you assholes who are too cool and jaded to care what happens to the one thing that should still mean something in our culture. You don't have to be a 16 year old in a hardcore band to see how lame this shit is.
And to the moron who wrote the satire about how Paul McCartney and the Stones and Led Zeppelin are all corporate whores, well, no shit, they are, that's where all this shit started from, remember? Trying to find a viable alternative to money-grubbing guitar gods.
If you honestly don't see anything wrong with this, then I feel sorry for you and I hope the SUV you drive crashes into a Starbucks on the way to vote for Dick Cheney in 2008.
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I'm the asshole who wrote that and it was mainly in response to Davidt who implied that music meant little to Jack because of what he did. Now let's apply the same logic to a freaking legend like Bob Dylan. Music means little to Bob Dylan? Give me a break! Another point I was trying to make was that some incredibly influential and talented artists have participated in ads, but that doesn't lessen their influence or ruin the art they have created.
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Furthermore, I thought "alternative" in musical terms applied more to music that was outside the norm and not necessarily a lifestyle. If you look at it that way then Jack is most definitely alternative. Regardless of this Coke ad or whatever else Jack has done, you can't say Jack hasn't stuck to his guns when it comes to his music. He's still creating the music he wants to make without succumbing to whatever is popular. His music is very much outside the mainstream, in spite of his popularity. I'm amazed The White Stripes have come as far as they have to be honest. Get Behind Me Satan, even if it considered by many to be their weakest album, is one of their strangest albums to date. Do you think The Nurse would fly on the top 40 charts?
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Stuck to his guns? Since the song was written for Coke, he's no longer creating music that he wants, but the music Coke wants. I wonder how many times Coke rejected his work.
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I'm talking about his work with The White Stripes.
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Oh goddam, war in Iraq. Global terrorism.
Fuckin' asteroids are gonna kill all of us.
Spring is here, and I cannot breathe.
But, we're concerned with a goddam Coke commercial, and the life-altering decisions of Jack White.
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wow . . . all this for a fucking coke commercial? this is what you people get all worked up over? where are your priorities? it's a cute little jingle and a pretty interesting short film. a company is using it to sell a product. welcome to our capitalist society. we've been doing this for some time now. selling things and whatnot. are you people that naive? where is the justifiable outrage over things that really matter? our bonehead president has lead us into an unwinnable war, iran has got nukes, and gas companies are making record profits while we get the priveledge to pay $3-5 dollars a gallon for goddamn gasoline. and you guys are made because jack white made an interesting little advert. you people are sick. i'm still waiting for the bill hicks coke commercial.
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"You don't have to be a 16 year old in a hardcore band to see how lame this shit is."
No, but it helps. Because they are wise beyond their years, full of hope despite the times.
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Using comparisons to Iron & Wine and others is retarded. This is a JINGLE he wrote for Coke. A brand new song. If he were whoring out songs he'd already released, maybe some of you would have a point (though I probably still wouldn't buy it). I don't think Jack White has ever purported to be all about punk ethics, the dude usually talks about how traditional and old-fashioned he is. What's more old-fashioned than writing a jingle for Coca-Cola?
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Sorry, but I'd rather be a sellout than be damned to the life of a kid in a hardcore band.
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"We may disagree on what that something is, but I guarantee you it's supposed to be something like a fucking Coca-Cola commercial."
That's probaly one of the thinks I always hated most about so called "punk rock ethics." It's nihilistc and only eloquent in what it rejects. That's ethics?
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Anyone who even cares about which artists are doing what with which corporations are dumb, delusional, hambrained, "indie" nerds who have absolutely no shread of life left in their jaded, stuck-up, pretentious, useless skulls. With your head jammed so far up your ass, no wonder everyone and everything you see is going to be covered in shit. Get over yourselves, fuck off, and listen to some Xiu Xiu.
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Anyone who even cares about which artists are doing what with which corporations are dumb, delusional, hambrained, "indie" nerds who have absolutely no shread of life left in their jaded, stuck-up, pretentious, useless skulls. With your head jammed so far up your ass, no wonder everyone and everything you see is going to be covered in shit. Get over yourselves, fuck off, and go listen to some Xiu Xiu.
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Sorry bout the deja vu.
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I prefer Iced Tea.
Yep. That's my astonishing two cents.
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I thought what happened to our culture WAS one of the important things. My bad. I can't possibly see how our sheep-like willingness to do anything anyone tells us (buys this product! attack this country!) has ramifications in the larger picture with bigger issues. Now even writing a rant against apathy is considered jaded, pretentious, and useless.
I hope someone with real integrity and honor and spirit, like say Hasil Adkins or Johnny Cash, comes back from the dead and beats the shit out of you and Jack White and the guy from Xiu Xiu too. And while they're at it, Sufjan Stevens also.
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I don't mind the song, the ad, or Jack doing this, but I am glad it is, for the time being, never going to be shown on my TV screen. I wouldn't want to hear Jack's voice coming out of my TV every day because I'm sure I would grow to hate the ad and hate him for doing it. I hope Jack offers us some consolation and comes out with the best White Stripes album in the last 4 years. His past work and live shows are consolation enough though.
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Sharp criticism from sharp people goes far beyond, "My bad. I can't possibly see how our sheep-like willingness to do anything anyone tells us (buys this product! attack this country!) has ramifications in the larger picture with bigger issues."
Hey, look at me! I'm so intellectually rigorous I have two categories for everything: good and bad. See, independent thought doesn't take a lot of thought. I can just throw a phrase at you like, "Everything is political," (great bumper sticker by the way) and lump all the bad things together.
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Are these human-rights abuses on the Columbia University campus, or do you mean the country Colombia?
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jack is my negro. we're tight.
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i toss my hat in with those sighing over the loss of any real respect for artistry and culture. the arguments from the other side tend towards "well, everybody does it" or "gotta feed yer kids." both ludicrous for reasons not even worth pointing out.
but it's ok, we're all content, and reasonably well-off, with lots of nice techie toys to play with. everyone's a hypocrite, sure, because we live in a hypocritical society, but what irks me is the vitriol directed at anyone who dares, dares! question anything anymore. what end do you really think you're vitriol is serving?
in Africa Coke is incredibly popular because it's a cheap way to fill the belly when there's no food available. don't for a second think that this is accidental, or that this all doesn't connect somehow.
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I don't think I've ever seen quite this level of outrage expressed over any other artist allowing a commercial to use a song of theirs and numerous talented, well-respected artists have done it before. Is it because the company is Coke and Coke has committed human rights violations? If Jack had written a song for another company would there be this much outrage?
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I'd still boink him in a second....
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i dont really like the white stripes first off, though i dont hate them. but i do consider this as selling out for sure, and so should all of you. stop politicizing this issue. keep it simple. if you want to peddle dangerous products to make cash, you are a sell out. coke is not a healhty choice and it doesnt spread love, rather death and disease. caffeine is poison. refined sugar, especially in this kind of dose rots your insides. ive always thought of the white stripes nuetrally. now i have absolutely no respect for them. i will not even consider anything related to them in the future.
if you want to talk about human rights abuses, also look at what coke is doing in india, choking out the water supply. columbia isnt the only place where they kill people for a soft drink.
you people really need to open your eyes a bit rather than providing the argument that coke is somehow a normal thing.
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http://spinachdip.blogspot.com/2006/04/selling-out-its-right-thing-to-do.html
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look all what you guys have said is intresting and everything but the point you've all missed out is as jack would say'the baby' what i mean is the true meaning of music that core of it which means everything in the world its the only tiny bit of truth there is left in the world and thats what jack seems to realise and its the reason he's such an amazing artist you need to see that if it wasnt for him and meg i would probebly of lost the will to live long ago and hes the only person that seems to speak words of comfort to me when i huddle in a corner and cry my heart out while my supposedly 'loved ones' smile obliviously elsewhere he and his music are the only things that have never let me down so leave him alone and let him make a coke advert or whatever because i know that hes saved at least one persons life so fuck off his back and let him be.
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you can throw away half your record collection especially the classics if you were to discover how many bands did a commercial, did a song for a commercial, licensed a song for a commercial, etc etc. throw away your tool records, rolling stone records, your nine inch nails records, in other words stfu already. at least he took the time to write a new jingle for a brand that he actually loves instead of license an old song to the company.
long story short, stfu.
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