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THE HARD SELL – Nissan Juke (The Guardian)

"Yet rather than ringing the council then praying by candlelight for holy deliverance, everyone looks on in wonderment. The music has clearly made everything OK."

Few right-thinking viewers will mourn the demise of the traditional advert jingle. I only need say the words ‘We Buy Any Car’ to remind you why. Yet a more subtle musical accompaniment is as fashionable as beards right now. Ever since Feist’s 1-2-3-4 flogged us the iPod, the use of innocent, childlike ditties to soundtrack commercials has snowballed in popularity. It’s not hard to see why. It evokes escape and a carefree, childlike feeling at the same time as suggesting the arty sophistication of someone who sounds a bit like Tori Amos’s niece.

In the current Nissan Juke ad, a car drives around a city at night to the strains of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This ‘compact crossover’ car combines a small tank and a squashed hatchback with all the aesthetic appeal of those platform trainers everyone wore in the Spice Girls era. It also seems to have an alarming effect on its surroundings, making lights flicker and electricity circuits explode, spark and fizz all across town. Yet rather than ringing the council then praying by candlelight for holy deliverance, everyone looks on in wonderment. The music has clearly made everything OK.

The same approach is currently making us feel warm and fuzzy about Nivea, Amazon Kindle, Saab and UPS, among other ‘brands’. Let’s just hope this startlingly effective formula doesn’t fall into more dangerous hands. Imagine if the BNP commissioned a short film of aryan Brits dancing gaily (but not in THAT way) with a cute bulldog around a sun-dappled British meadow to a la-la-send-‘em-back girly-folk soundtrack.

Don’t worry, they won’t. Fascists aren’t bright enough to read The Guardian, are they?

Johnny Sharp

I reserve the right to be wrong...occasionally