Friday, October 03, 2008

Oh dear

Absolute - the new name for Virgin Radio - is promoting itself with a clunker of an online ad campaign:

Like girl bands?

What are you, a Lib Dem MP?

Discover real music...

A station that hears the words "girl bands" and thinks of the Cheeky Girls rather than, say, The Shangri-Las or Sleater-Kinney probably shouldn't be lecturing about "real" music, should it?

Leaving that aside, how dour does the ad make the station sound? It might as well just stick up a picture of Ocean Colour Scene and Coldplay, rotating ever so slowly.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Real Music' has always been a horrible phrase, conjouring up images of the most lumbering, stodgy aural plod. Acoustic Paul Weller B-sides and special extended live versions of Kasabian album tracks. The sort of thing that appears on 'Top Gear Driving Anthems' compilations, where the opening bars cause any sales reps within 500 yards to make a "Woooaaagh!" noise. Heck, I used to be like that myself, in that awkward transitional period from Smash Hits to NME. I was a right miserable sod.

In life, we're always being told to eat proper food, get proper exercise and wear proper clothes. Surely when it comes to music, we should be free to pick the most completely frivolous, inappropriate, bleepy whizzy equivalent of eating a bucket of popping-candy whilst riding a winged bicycle dressed as a knight, instead of sticking to a strict diet of flavourless artists and organic guitars?

Iain Lee's show's still brilliant, mind. Possibly because he doesn't play much music. He talks to fruit-loops instead.

Anonymous said...

I'll take Girls Aloud over Ocean Colour Scene and their ilk aaany day of the week.

Anonymous said...

I started a new job this week, where they play Absolute radio.

There is a LOT of Del Amitri being played. I can only assume they have a single out right now.

I can only hope that.

Oh, and they had a special Oasis day. That was fun.

Anonymous said...

I note that none of the comments here point out the most telling thing about this ad campaign, which is about the 4358th piece of evidence I've come across for the truth that rock music as defined by such a station is, above all else, all about left/liberal-baiting. How can anyone seriously doubt the existence of rock'n'roll at gunpoint now?

James' post (not exercising and eating shite food is "exciting"? What fucking year is this? 1958?) is in itself part of the problem, though for different reasons (almost anyone Absolute Radio might play can be safely assumed to be Euro-bashing scum, but Girls Aloud are *also* Euro-bashing scum, as are - if only by implication -
all defenders of what passes for "food" in this country. Especially the Kaiser Thiefs).

Tim F said...

I've written a blog post in which I fantasise about sexually abusing then murdering the members of Ocean Colour Scene.

Nobody has yet threatened to arrest me.

Simon Hayes Budgen said...

@Tim
You might get a visit from a small business foundation offering help with government grants, though

Anonymous said...

@robin carmody
You don't enjoy life much do you?

Anonymous said...

RYAN REYNOLDS!

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