Songs Ruined by Commercials

Music holds a special place in my heart; as I'm sure it does you too. Music brings you back to places past. Music elicits emotions of all sorts. Songs remind you people, places and are one of our greatest connections to our own past.

That is why it kills me when companies use some of the greatest songs to market their products. The songwriters are often just as guilty - But the rights to songs isn't really my concern here. It's the fact that I will forever lose that beautiful connection to those past emotions and now think of some McDonald's meal or morning coffee.

Here are songs that have absolutely been destroyed by being used in commercials throughout my lifetime. Feel free to add your own...



- Stevie Wonder's "Sunshine of my Life" - Used in a Minute Maid orange juice commercial many years ago. (Let me know if you can find that commercial - Right now, I can't).

- The Killer's "I've got soul but I'm not a Soldier" - Used by Nike






- Nike also used John Lennon's "Instant Karma" many years ago. On a side note, during high school my buddy Dan used to sing "Yeah we all shine on... Like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar". Which was funny to me since he moved from South Africa no more than a year earlier. To this day, I wonder if he even knew who Kareem was.




- The DeBeer's diamond commercial. It's not so much the song as the way they've brainwashed everyone into buying their product for far too much money. Not to mention the fact that diamonds are often mined by child and slave labor. But that's a rant for another day.



- You don't think that The Moody Blues had something deeper in mind with "Tuesday Afternoon" than a Visa commercial and an aquarium?





- I'm not forgetting 3 Doors Down "Let Me Be Myself" from the Geico caveman commercials... You know, since nobody has any kind of emotional attachment to 3 Doors Down.



- How about Lincoln destroying both the name of a great president, but also "Major Tom (Coming Home)".





- Kodak took "True Colors" and killed it. Apparently this destruction went international...





- I have to admit, I actually like this one. Starbucks' Glen commercial is fantastic. The fact that Survivor was part of this makes it A-OK in my book.




- Way to go McDonald's. You took "Fur Elise", intentionally inserted mistakes AND had this girl make up some ridiculous words. More than 20 years later, this is all I can think about when I hear "Fur Elise"... Which was probably your goal in the first place, wasn't it?




- To fix the problem, this guy needs to be doing all marketing for all commercials that use popular songs...



Like I said before, add your own in the comments section. This is a national tragedy that can no longer go overlooked or understated.