Since u been bold

First things first. Heather's pictures from last Thursday's RS party are up on Flickr, and I just put up the video of The Strokes and Eddie Vedder up as well:



The shakiness goes away, somewhat, after a few seconds. Please excuse the drunk camerawoman. The same can't be said for the flashing lights - you'll have to speak to The Strokes about that one.

Second, please welcome The Passion of the Weiss to my updated blogroll. TPoW just posted a lovely story about a trash-talking mediocre rec-leaguer and shares common interests with this blog, including sports, indie rock and hip hop.

Now, let's get on with the post.

If you watched any television over the past week, you probably saw that Ford commercial with that Kelly Clarkson song (:60 clip). And again. And again and again. Yup, Ford really, really wants you to forget about the massive layoffs and the reputation for building crappy cars, and let you know they're making BOLD MOVES.

There are a few things to pick at here. For starters, Ford is apparently positioning itself as a car company for a quadriplegic marching band member and a musician who takes a Greyhound bus to NYC. Okay, so maybe I'm taking things too literally, but it's not exactly "bold" of Ford to align itself with a wholesome-as-they-come, chart topping talent show winner (don't get me wrong, I do love Kels). Oh, there's certainly nothing bold about looking exactly like a Visa commercial.

Granted, it's only an anthem spot, which tend to be music video-y and devoid of substance, and it's only part of a major rebranding effort, but still. If you're going to say you're making bold moves, it helps to have an ad that actually is, you know, bold.

As for Kelly's song. Eh, it's not exactly "Since U Been Gone", or even "Because of You", but it's catchy enough for me. But for some reason, her being on a Ford commercial bothers me more than Jack White's Coke ad. I mean, it's not like she was ever a "serious" artist like Jack or Cat Power so I have really no idea why it doesn't work for me.