We were warned. Wrigley’s publicly unveiled its new gum jingles today with Chris Brown pimping Doublemint (forever!), Ne-Yo cheesing with a pack of Big Red, and country singer/ballroom dancer Julianne Hough posing with her Juicy Fruit.
While Snoop Dogg busies himself with taking over the Indian music market (perhaps you heard the American music industry smells less like teen spirit than teen funk?), a fun new trend is taking over the U.S. recording industry: marketing as music.
This is different from music as marketing in this way: Previously, musicians record labels would sign over songs, that they already recorded, to be used in commercials when marketers found them to be perfect for their 30-second spot.
Then came grey-area additions, like Fergie's "Labels Or Love," a track commissioned specifically for the Sex and the City movie.
And now there's Chris Brown's "Forever," which isn't so much a Top 10 hit as it is a commercial for Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. that just happened to sneak its way onto the radio. And only now is Wrigley going to own up to it.
