Stupid Marketing Tricks

Orginally Published 10.24.08

Have you seen the new television ad for the Lincoln MKS? The ad is visually appealing with lots of high end, digital special effects. This was not a cheap ad to produce.

But get this, the music for the ad is a remake of the old David Bowie song, “Ground Control to Major Tom.”

Huh? You’re kidding, right?

“Ground Control to Major Tom” is a song about a spaceship that has a problem, leaving Major Tom stranded on a spacewalk, making a plea to tell his wife he loves her. The song suggests the guy’s going to die because of a space vehicle technical mishap. And the Lincoln ad uses the lyrics to identify the MKS?

For those who don’t remember, here are the lyrics…


Ground control to Major Tom
Ground control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
Four, three, two, one, liftoff

This is ground control to Major Tom
You’ve really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now its time to leave the capsule if you dare

This is Major Tom to ground control
I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do

Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles
I’m feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell me wife I love her very much she knows

Ground control to Major Tom
Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....

Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do.
So a car ad uses a song that includes the lyrics, “For here am I sitting in a tin can… Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong.”

Wow.

Some ad exec better be emailing his resume over this one. Of course, this was a David Bowie song. Thus, the trip into space was probably meant as a trip on drugs where Bowie loses connection with reality or overdoses. I don’t know what’s worse, connecting a car to mechanical failure and death or connecting it to drugs and death.

© 2008 Matt Michel