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You do realize that everything that appears in ANY commercial is carefully chosen. That means every spoken word, every image, and yes, every note and lyric of the background music is chosen for what it says about the product, and how it relates to the attitudes, beliefs, and prejudices of the target audience.

You do realize that what is said in the header of this article IS NOT IN THE SONG sung in that commercial? The lyrics sung in that commercial were not the song you are referring to but a heavily edited version of that song. . . which left most of that song on the cutting room floor. It does not promote the song. . . they are promoting their PRODUCT.

> It does not promote the song. . . they are promoting their PRODUCT

Unfortunately that's not the end result, and I'm sure you're aware of it. On Apple's own page for this ad:

https://www.apple.com/ipad-air-2/change/

is a picture of the band's album "DISGRACELAND", and the message:

Featuring the song “Who Needs You” by The Orwells.
View in the iTunes Store

Sorry, man. Apple is promoting the song. No question about it.

You do realize that what is said in the header of this article IS NOT IN THE SONG sung in that commercial? The lyrics sung in that commercial were not the song you are referring to but a heavily edited version of that song. . . which left most of that song on the cutting room floor. It does not promote the song. . . they are promoting their PRODUCT.

Considering that the song as it appears on YouTube runs over 3 minutes, and the commercial is 1 minute, obviously the song had to be heavily edited.

I never said the most offensive lyrics weren't edited out.

My point was that just the use of a commercially available song (as opposed to something generic and untraceable, or a song that was written just for the commercial) is promotion of a sort.

A person sees the commercial, likes the style of the song even though he might not be able to understand the lyrics (with that song, it's tough), finds out who did it, and navigates to iTunes to get the whole thing. That's promotion. And from that point on, at least for a while, when he hears that song, or even one in a similar style, he will think about iPads.

Creating those connections, either conscious or subconscious, is what advertising people strive for in an effective ad.

When you hear someone with an Aussie accent, do you ever suddenly find yourself thinking about a little green lizard selling insurance?

And you said in another post down thread...

Given the background of the song, I would not have chosen it. The Ad Agency apparently did. . .

Do you really think the ad agency didn't submit that commercial to Apple for approval?

But it's possible that Apple missed the connection. It's happened before (e.g. the Navy's use of the Village People's song "In the Navy" in a recruitment ad). At the time, it was a real blunder. Today, well, that's another issue!