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    Bizarre product placement in songs

    Not a thread for mentions of Chevys, RayBans, Levis, etc or for hip-hop bling obsessions, but the more unusual products that you perhaps wouldn't expect to find included in the lyrics of a song.

    I must have heard Al Jarreau's 'Mornin' dozens of times over the years and hadn't ever picked up on his reference to the breakfast cereal Cheerios. It wasn't until I came across the video last week that the penny dropped. I don't think that you will have any problem spotting it.

    Incidentally, this would be a leading contender for a 'great song, dreadful video' Top 10, but I feel sure that's a topic that will have been done before on OTF. If the production budget stretched to four figures I'd be surprised.

    #2
    Kanye West on Estelle's American Boy:

    He crazy, I know what you thinkin'
    Ribena, I know what you're drinkin'

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      #3
      Are we looking for product placement or just mention of products?

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        #4
        The latter I guess, since the former implies some sort of financial arrangement that I suspect would be relatively uncommon outside film/TV. Clumsily worded on my part.

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          #5
          Carter USM's Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere mentions Galloways Sore Throat Expectorant, and two songs later on the album Sylvanian Families get a namecheck.

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            #6
            Curly Wurly (Blinded by the Light)

            Didn't know they were a thing in the US.

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              #7
              Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
              Curly Wurly (Blinded by the Light)

              Didn't know they were a thing in the US.
              Also in The Fall's Slang King, along with brut.

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                #8
                The Fall: spangles (A Past Gone Mad, Paranoia Man..., It's A Curse).

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                  #9
                  In some song Drake songs about Robetussin. I noticed only because Chris Rock had a bit about that particular brand of medication.

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                    #10
                    Curly Wurlies aren't really a thing here (the closest analogue was the US Marathon, which was of course different to the UK Marathon), but the phrase had made it into the rhyming dictionary that Springsteen relied heavily on in writing the lyrics.

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                      #11
                      Just to make it more complicated, I remember Curly Wurlys in France being sold as 3 Musketiers, and in the US there is also a chocolate bar called 3 Musketeers which is more like a Milky Way

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                        #12
                        It's clearly some kind of vehicle. (Such was Springsteen's obsession.)

                        But yes, the US Marathon bar was the nearest to the Curly Wurly, as once promoted by Terry Scott.

                        Obviously, a fair few acts have used recognisable consumer products for comedic effect within lyrics - including HMHB, Run DMC and (I'm told) Sleaford Mods - but there was some R&B song I heard a while back that was little more than a glorified commercial for Dolce & Gabbana. Unfortunately, it was so godawful that I forget what it was.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by G-Man View Post
                          In some song Drake songs about Robetussin. I noticed only because Chris Rock had a bit about that particular brand of medication.
                          Well I'll be damned. It is also mentioned in "Bass Down Low" by Dev, and I never knew what it was - I assumed it was either an alcohol brand (as the song also mentions Patron and (Grey) Goose) or a euphemism (given how the rest of that verse pans out). Seems it's freely available in the UK as well, so not sure why I'd never sussed that before (though I'm more of a Covonia sort of guy really).

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                            #14
                            More from The Fall:

                            Bacardi - Just Step S'Ways
                            Bailey's - Where's the Fuckin Taxi? Cunt
                            Gorden's Gin - Backdrop
                            Hovis - That Man, Just Step S'Ways, HOW
                            Oxo Cubes - Mere Pseud Mag. Ed.
                            Vimto - It's a Curse
                            Weetabix - Mere Pseud Mag.Ed.

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                              #15
                              And of course, the US Milky Way is rather different from the version sold in the UK and Europe

                              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way_(chocolate_bar)

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                                #16
                                North American pop references to cough medicine generally evoke its non-medicinal uses.

                                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_(drug)

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                                  #17
                                  If you believe Wikipedia, one of the most famous product mentions was not very productive ...

                                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Wagner%27s_Pies

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                                    #18
                                    Green Day's Poprocks and Coke is a twofer, despite the fact neither are mentioned in the lyrics.

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                                      #19
                                      "We have to shout above the din of our Rice Krispies" - Synchronicity II

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                                        #20
                                        Bad Touch by The Bloodhound Gang has references to Mister Coffee (with an automatic drip) and also, weirdly, to "Google stocks". Not many songs specifically recommend investing in shares in named companies.

                                        Blur reference Prozac in Country House.

                                        Barenaked Ladies do a whole bit about Kraft Dinners in If I Had a Million Dollars. There are probably a few references in One Week as well.

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                                          #21
                                          And of course the song National Express by Divine Comedy is all about taking a trip on a National Express coach.

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                                            #22
                                            Mars Bar by the Undertones mentions the above snack , as well as Twix, Bounty and Buttons.

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                                              #23
                                              Irish musicians named after firms or products;

                                              Bono took his stage name from Bonavox hearing aid clinic, which is still going strong sat the same address over 40 years later.

                                              Boomtown Rats bass player Pete Briquette took his stage name after peat briquette heat logs.

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                                                #24


                                                Mustard as a status symbol.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                                                  More from The Fall:

                                                  Weetabix - Mere Pseud Mag.Ed.
                                                  Weetabix is also in Suicide Drive by The Seahorses.
                                                  I'll nip in for the Henri Wintermans cigars while Sits is asleep (Girl From Mars - Ash).
                                                  Kleenex kitchen towels (The Convalescent - Manic Street Preachers)




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