Sympathy for the Devil in Acura TV Ad: WTH?

Just saw this ad while watching NFL football on Fox. I can't believe they would use a song like "Sympathy for the Devil" to sell cars. Are they going for the Satanic demographic? 2019 Acura RDX TV Commercial, 'Launch' Song by Motörhead [T1]

 

I like it!

Why so surprised? The commercial simply illustrates where the devil has always been: smack dab on the dollar bill.

 

It was more offensive than surprising to me. "Sympathy for the Devil" has always been one of my least favorite songs, and I usually skip it whenever I play my Hot Rocks CD.

 

It's the only Stones song my son knows. I think it appears in a Call of Duty game.

 

Obviously, they're trying to appeal to men of wealth and taste.

 

Anyone who's surprised that any song would be used for an ad has not been paying attention for the last 30 years.

 

"Please allow me to introduce myself; I'm a man that can't afford a Tesla..."

 

Maybe the Acura has a “Goes Like Hell” driving mode?

 

Well, at least it wasn't the Stones' version.

 

Guess Dodge couldn't afford to use it for their Hellcat.

 

OK, I laughed out loud!

 

Didn't I see "She's a Rainbow" also in an Acura commercial recently? I don't see the connection between that song and selling automobiles but like others have said, nothing should be surprising when Madison Avenue marketing departments are turned loose.

 

You’re offended by the song?

 

Oh wait, were you serious?
It's because Honda is far too conservative (chicken**** if you want to be harsher) to invest the amounts needed to create a true luxury brand. That's not just my professional opinion, I have a friend who is a manager there. So we get warmed over Honda Civics, a kinda cool NSX stuffed with hybrid technology which does NOT enable it get great mileage, and Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™ (SH-AWD®) which I thought just sucked when I was driving and RL for some month. Oh, and the current RLX which drives the wrong ends with the wrong motor.

Substitute "Ford" and "Lincoln" into the above rant for flavor #2...

 

Saw that ad too and they did use Rainbow. Think they were pushing the audio system in the car for that ad. Acura used to have surround sound systems in a couple of models that could play DVD -Audio discs.

 

Yes.

 

Roll Tide

 

They're going for a vibe, not a literal interpretation. Some songs and sounds create a cool vibe that, combined with the visuals, makes a product compelling. If they do it right

 

I guess I shouldn't be shocked that someone is offended by the actual song but I admit that I find it surprising. I mean, is it really "satanic"? And by what standards? I was expecting more ire directed at whomever allowed Lemmy's voice to be used for such a bland product. Now there's a guy who wouldn't have been driving an Acura!

 

Their Satanic Majesties Request a dumptruck full of money.

 

I'm not the biggest Stones fan, but I think Sympathy For The Devil is one of the best songs............ever.
Now, my question is: Do Jagger/Richard's have to OK it too? Or just Motorhead (or whoever handles the Motorhead dealings now that Lemmy past away)? Just curious.

 

Is this where we mention that the book the song was inspired by is satire of the (atheist) Soviet Union?

 

Wait, what?

 

I think you have to clear the song publishing rights and the rights for the recording itself. So the Stones get paid and whoever on Lemmy’s side gets paid. They may have preferred Motörhead’s take or it may have just been cheaper to clear.

 

Thank you.
I also noticed that my spellchecker changed "Lemmy" to "Lenny".