I’ve seen this commercial a few times in the past few days, and I’m really not sure what to think of it. It just seems odd… As far as I’m concerned, Sublime was an amazing band with some incredible songs, and Santeria was no different. But at the same time, the majority of their songs dealt heavily with drugs and drug culture… the lead singer Brad Nowell died of an overdose (tragic for the music world). So why have a bunch of kids sitting around with Nintendo DSs, singing Santeria?
Seems like an odd choice for Nintendo, and an unfortunate use of one of Sublime’s songs. Not sure how much it really promotes the game, Jam Sessions. Then again, I’ve been questioning a lot of music usage in commercials, like the whole Wendy’s/Violent Femmes pairings I wrote about a while back. Just seems odd… and does it really hit the target? In searching for the spot, I found a ton of people who wanted to know what song was in the spot (presumably young Nintendo fans unfamiliar with Sublime), which could be good, bad, or just indifferent. but it still seems a bit odd to me.
3 responses so far ↓
Games » A bunch of kids singing a Sublime song sells Nintendo DS Games? // September 29, 2007 at 6:28 pm
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Lou Dog // October 11, 2007 at 1:05 pm
yeah dude fuck nintendo, that comercials an insult to sublime.
Jamie // July 8, 2008 at 7:37 am
I don’t think that using an artist’s song in a commercial promotes the lifestyle that that particular band or artist lived. Music is music and when it comes to using it in advertising, if it fits use it. In this particular case, I would say “Smart move Nintendo!”. Sublime has an incredibly large following that doesn’t seem to end with people who listened to them in the 90’s and beyond. This following is made up mostly of people that enjoy video games. Kids are probably hanging out at the skate park as we speak talking about how sweet it is that a Sublime song was even on TV.
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