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The Wallflowers' Coca-Cola Commercial - Sell Out or Smart Move?

© Wendy Starr

In March, when I first heard that the Wallflowers were shooting a commercial for Coca-Cola, I must admit that I was a bit surprised. I'd been used to the mentality of prior decades of rock musicians who regarded themselves as "artists," and who shied away from doing anything too overtly commercial or deemed a "sell out." Acting in television commercials or playing their music in them was a classic form of selling out. The Beatles are an obvious example of such an anti-TV commercial mentality. They never agreed to use themselves or their image to sell any products--except their own music--in any medium. Years later, when they lost control of their music catalog to Michael Jackson and Sony Music, Beatles tunes started popping up in TV commercials to sell assorted products such as sneakers, computers, and television sets . . . much to the total disgust of the surviving Beatles, who felt that the commercials cheapened their music.

However, times have clearly changed. What was once thought of as taboo, is now a smart business move. It's not unusual nowadays to turn on the TV and see Sting acting in a commercial or hear classic rock tunes selling hamburgers. Artists like Moby use TV commercials to increase exposure for their music and boost record sales. I'm guessing that the Wallflowers agreed to appear in a Coke commercial for the same reasons. After all, sales for the Wallflowers' third album,"Breach," have been sadly disappointing.

The Wallflowers' commercial is one out of 30 new 30-second Coke spots to hit the airwaves. Its tagline is "Life Tastes Good" and Coca-Cola is trying to spread the message not only on television, but online as well. ("http://www.coca-colamediacentre.com/vide...").

The Wallflowers' commercial started appearing online on April 20, 2001 and on television two days later. It features lead singer, Jakob Dylan, enjoying a can of Coke before returning to the concert stage to do an encore. Or, as Yahoo News reported, "Jakob Dylan looks cool and collected on his way backstage. Drinking Coke from a can, he displays a bemused smile while observing the swirl of people passing by." ("http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/bpiaw/20010...") "We wanted someone with character," said Steve Jones, Coke's chief marketing officer to Yahoo News. "Jakob Dylan is authentic and real. He's gotten there on his own. It's a very personal moment backstage." The commercial ends with a snippet of "Letters from the Wasteland."

The advertising trade publication, Advertising Age ("http://www.adage.com/"), however,