Alcohol product placement hidden in song lyrics

A recent study was completed at the University of Pittsburgh which looked into the placement of alcohol brands in music lyrics.

Researchers studied the lyrics of 793 songs on Billboard Magazine’s Top 100 lists from 2005 – 2007, and found that 21.3% of them referred to alcohol, and of those, 24.3% referred to specific brands. The brands mentioned most often were Patron Tequila, Grey Goose Vodka, Hennessy Cognac and Cristal Champagne.

While many brands pay for the placement in lyrics, Patron Tequila have said that they have never paid for a mention in any song, assuming that their inclusion in song lyrics is just because artists like their product.

It has definitely been proven in past that putting a brand into a song can drive alcohol sales. According to The Star, when Busta Rhymes and P Diddy released Pass the Courvoisier in 2002, sales of the cognac increased 19%!

Given that integrated advertising has been proven to be quite effective, it is no wonder that there are so many brands using companies like The Kluger Agency (who were responsible for the multitude of products placed in Lady Gaga & Beyonce's 'Telephone' video - below) to put their products into music videos and song lyrics. This is particularly interesting when looking at alcohol brands - given that it is illegal to advertise alcohol to underage consumers, embedding brands into songs is a way of still promoting your brand to youth whilst staying out of trouble.

PITBULL takes a 'Sheet' on stage

The year isn't yet over, but I think we've got a winner in the worst brand & artist partnership!

Pitbull (yes, the guy who rhymed 'Kodak' with 'Kodak' in "Give Me Everything" as part of his Kodak sponsorship) has teamed up with Sheets Energy Strips to front their latest campaign.

You can see the creative above. Gross, huh?
As Adweek says: "This is a product you put in your mouth, yet it's being marketed with headlines that reference defecation."

Partnering with the wrong brand, or fronting a horrible campaign, can do massive damage to an artist's credibility. If you didn't already dislike Pitbull, this ad will probably change that.

Check out Pitbull's Kodak ad here:

BRANDS AND BANDS: Madonna & Smirnoff

Last year, Smirnoff launched a campaign called the Nightlife Exchange Project where cities around the world swapped nightlife to throw a huge Smirnoff sponsored cross-cultural party.

The next event will take place this year on November 12, and will again involve 18 countries swapping nightlife. But this year, they've got Madonna on board.

The vodka brand has paired up with Madonna to hold a dance contest in which she will select the best dancer from 50 countries (in which Smirnoff are running this promotion) to join her on her next tour.



Madonna will be sure to bring in a large number of dancer entries, due to her wide appeal, and the reputation she has for big-scale stage shows. But she is an interesting choice for a campaign which looks to be targeting 18 - 24 year olds... is Madonna too old for this demographic? She had already released Like a Virgin (1984), True Blue (1986), Like a Prayer (1989) and Erotica (1992) before 18 year olds today were even born! Or will the Smirnoff customers latch on to her 'vintage' appeal and embrace her - like Virgin Mobile customers did with Vanilla Ice a few years back?