Best of '08: Top 10 Cool Music Commercials

Posted Thursday, December 11, 2008 @ 05:13 in Music by Brandon Perkins

Remember when people watched commercials on television? And then inevitably, someone would bug their musically knowledgeable compatriot about some irresistible little ditty that scored the soundtrack of commercialism? Well, TiVo and the Internet took care of that...but it didn't stop the rain of advertisements using cool music. Here are the top 10 cool music commercials of '08:



^ Cornershop's "Candyman" for Nike & Lebron James
Nike has long been king of cool commercials, but this spot for King James (which features everyone from Lil Wayne to tweenage hoop phenom Jamie Nared) is dead on.

^ Santogold, Julian Casablancas & Pharrell's "My Drive Thru" for Converse
This'll be the year that artists full realized that recording albums wasn't enough to make a living off...and this may be the commercial (and free MP3 and promotional 12-inch and never ending billboards) that set the standard of getting paid from music in a new era.

^ Marvin Gaye's "National Anthem" for Nike
The commercials for this year's Olympics were kind of bunk, but we don't know an eye that stayed dry during this bit for the men's basketball squad.

^ Justice's "Phantom Part 2" for Telus
What's a Telus? Why don't you tell us?

^ DJ Medhi's "I Am Somebody" for XM
Technically, this jawn dropped at the end of 2007, but we forgot to set our TiVo.

^ B.o.B's "Created A Monster" for Nintendo DS
B.o.B is a B.e.A.s.T. and we're 100% sure that this isn't the only commercial monster this ATLien will be creating over his career.

^ Michael Jackson's "Thriller" for Sobe
If only because the dancing lizards make for more believable characters than a smiling Naomi Campbell.

^ A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?" for Gatorade
Even if it started as Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," Tribe's sample is a whole lot less racist...which apparently doesn't test well amongst commercial viewers.

^ Frankie Valli's "Beggin' (Pilooski Remix)" for Adidas
Because All Day We Dream About Pilooski Remixes....Not to mention an invite to a star-studded cameo-rific shindig like this one.

^ Ting Tings' "Shut Up and Let Me Go" for Apple
Because it ain't a music in commercials party until an iPod spot don't stop.

Read the rest of URB & Friends' Top 10 Countdowns here.

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