THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, March 6, 1995                  TAG: 9503020012
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   47 lines

USING OLD PROTEST SONGS TO SELL PRODUCTS: JUST DON'T DO IT

A few notes from an old song seize our emotions and carry us back to special times and places.

The first dozen notes of Glenn Miller's ``String of Pearls'' transport some listeners to their slender-waisted youths in romantic ballrooms. The first three notes of the Beatles' ``Yesterday'' return other listeners to a magical time when parents hated rock 'n' roll.

Rock singer Bob Seger's ``Like a Rock'' calls to mind . . . a Chevrolet truck. Just try to hear the lyrics without visualizing a muscular truck powering over boulders and plowing through mud. You can't. The song is not a song anymore. It is an advertising jingle implanted in your brain by hundreds of repetitions.

Now comes a new jingle: Janis Joplin singing ``Oh, Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz.''

Using druggy Janis Joplin's rendition of an anti-materialist anthem to sell a car that costs as much as a house is tantamount to having the devil peddle Bibles. Even if it works, is it a good idea?

In the Mercedes-Benz song, Janis Joplin also asks the Lord for a color TV and a night on the town with a round of drinks, though needless to say those parts of the song aren't part of the jingle. If the jingle works, listeners will associate, or confuse, the good feelings from listening to Janis Joplin with the thrill of driving a car as well-made, expensive and admired as a Mercedes-Benz.

We can't bring Janis Joplin back to life; we can't even reclaim our youth. But maybe we can buy a Mercedes-Benz. The same person who once ripped off a hood ornament because it resembled the peace symbol might now buy the whole car.

The Janis Joplin song wasn't used sooner, said a Mercedes spokesperson, because ``people who really appreciated that music are only now in the right income bracket for our product.''

The day is coming when the people who like Barney will be in the ``right income bracket'' for some product.

Although we're all for advertising and in fact would cease to exist without it, we'd prefer that advertisers write their own jingles and leave our musical memories alone. by CNB