Brandi Carlile On Why ‘The Story’ Is In A GM Commercial
Brandi Carlile checked in with fans on her blog at MySpace (@brandicarlileband) on Sunday (August 10), discussing her participation in a new ad campaign with General Motors. The Seattle singer songwriter said:
While we are gone you may have already heard our song “The Story” in an Olympic advertisement for GM. Depending on how you feel about music and advertising in general, you may be wondering why a band like us would do something like this. Well I have a few good reasons, so allow me to shine a little light on the subject.
When GM first approached our band to use “The Story” in their 2008 Olympic ad visions of SUVs and full-size pick-up trucks driving through a rugged mountain range were dancing through my head. I promptly and politely declined. (Although I don’t want to be a hypocrite, our band did tour in a GM gas-guzzling van for many years) But, when they came back to us and offered to involve us in an ad campaign promoting hybrids, bio fuel, bio hybrids, hydrogen fuel cell cars and yes, even the infamous electric car the Chevy Volt, I felt the need to think twice about having the opportunity to be a part of a huge American car company creating an ad campaign for environmentally responsible cars. We feel they allowed more than a fair amount of input from us and made an honest effort to create an environmentally conscious ad. We are proud of it.
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11 thoughts on “Brandi Carlile On Why ‘The Story’ Is In A GM Commercial”
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Those are lovely sentiments, but it doesn’t change the fact that the song will now forever be linked with a car commercial. It cheapens the song for me. I was horrified when I first saw the commercial and now I cringe whenever it comes on. I’m also not so sure that the green theme really comes through in the commercial - especially when GM is using this ad campaign to build its brand - a brand that certainly doesn’t revolve around being green. It makes me sad for Brandi - I thought she was different.
It took me most of the morning to figure out the name of this song and the artist….what is being advertised does not matter to me…my ears picked up on a really wonderful song that I simply had to have in my collection. I viewed the commercial not in terms of which environmentally responsible vehicle to buy but rather the opportunity to discover a really cool song and a talented artist.
I’m glad you discovered Brandi. She is fabulous. But for those of us who have been following her music for years, this just seems out of character and a bit fame hungry. We have loved her music for a long time and didn’t need a car commercial to tell us that. She doesn’t need to stoop to this level.
Thank You! Thank You! Brandi for allowing GM to play your music. You are an amazing artist and that was a great song.
Don’t let people contain your music. You should feel FREE to express yourself through any and every venue.
You people that say she is selling out need to just get off your high horse. Brandi is a great artist, and having her song be featured in a commercial for a major company can only help spread the awareness of her music. And yes, they did push their brand in the commercial, but the entire commercial was geared toward pushing their brand in the light of trying to find alternative fuels. Let her have her success without trying to find some way of calling her a ‘sellout’ or that she’s stooping to some arbitrary level of fame hunting.
Brandi is amazing. The song is amazing. Why be uptight about how it is used? This will bring more exposure to a fantastic band that is distributing music that’s far more artistic and vibrant than the majority of manufactured crap on the radio right now.
I heard Brandi in concert last month and was in awe of her distinctive sound. Her voice deserves to be heard in any venue. I sincerely hope this GM ad makes her the star she should be!
So glad that Brandi was able to land a lucrative commercial so she can support herself and her band/tour/etc. and continue writing great songs. I’ve seen too many people struggle to get their music produced and heard by the “right” people while working their butts off at a job they hate so they can pay the bills. Rock on, sister.
I am thrilled to have found Brandi’s music (living under rock obviously) so thank you GM. I still won’t buy GM but I’ll buy Brandi’s music
Great song for a Great AMERICAN company. My father worked for GM for 30 years, the company has helped build America. It’s doing what it can to be forward thinking and environmentally friendly. It’s nice to see that Brandi Carlile is contributing to future of this country.
Give Brandi a break. The only reason I bought her album was because I heard her song in the GM commercial and I was blown away by it. The fact GM wanted to use her song only goes to show it’s an amazing song and an amazing vocal performance by Brandi. You should all be proud of her. GM is going to do what they do and if they don’t use Brandi’s song they’ll use someone else’s song. So why not give Brandi the exposure she so clearly deserves? I’m sure everyone here drives a car, so you have no room to talk. Those of you who drive Hybrids maybe doing more harm to the planet than those who drive a hummer. Do some research into those lovely batteries.