I am disheartened to say the least

[BigOleDummy]

I've just about come to grips with seeing the music/songs of my youth being used to shill products in commercials. Almost. So many of the iconic songs I grew up with have been/are being used that its kind of hard to reconcile what they "stood for" and what they now "stand for". I watch very little to no tv so this may be even more prevalent than I know but...….. Sympathy for the Devil/Rolling Stones, Won't get Fooled Again/The Who etc broke my heart when first viewed to promote corporate interests. But I have to say that the Super Bowl ad for Budweiser using Blowing in the Wind/Bob Dylan was cause for a tear in my eye. That song USED to mean, at least to me, a stance that was counter to everything that Budweiser and the corporate state stood for. Hearing it used in a freaking beer commercial was just too much. The disillusionment is real and very depressing I must say. Does this "bother" anyone but me or am I just too wedded to the past?

At least Neil Young has stood firm and I applaud him for this.

[marble falls]

1. Sympathy for the Devil in a commercial did it for me.

[Ohiogal]

2. I agree 100%

Hate hearing our generation ‘s anthems being used to shill products.

A few years ago Cadillac (the car I always associated with rich white Republican males) played Led Zep in one of their commercials!

It is truly a sacrilege.

[Brainstormy]

3. But who sold the rights to the songs?

Who's actually selling out here?

[2naSalit]

4. Depends on who owns the rights to the song.

Some artists have control over their music, others don't.

[babylonsister]

5. I have heard this is a

result of albums and CDs going the way of the dinosaur. Musicians need to make money and this is one of the few situations where they can do that.

[quickesst]

6. On the other hand....

.... the songs would never have been heard by much of the younger generation had they not heard them in these commercials. Which is better? That they had never heard them at all or at least heard them through these commercials that might spark an interest. Personally, I have no problem with it as long as the commercials are well-made and tastefully done. I actually salute many of them for choosing my generations music over most of the crap they call music today.

[GulfCoast66]

7. You do realize the bands were formed for economic as well as artistic reasons

The labels that recorded them were doing so for profit and the radio station you first heard it on existed to make a profit?

As an old GenXer I am always amused to see the high mindedness of many boomers versus the cynicism of my generation.

In my mind when you were buying those Songs you were customers purchasing from an industry with a great marketing plan. The feeling you got of changing the world was part of what they were selling.

So if they are used to sell beer, soap or a feeling of standing for something I see no inherent difference.

[Dave Starsky]

8. Exactly.

Anyone who thinks Bob Dylan was in the music biz strictly out of the kindness of his loving heart is nuts.

I thought it was an excellent commercial. In a country where Climate Change now no longer exists and fossil fuels are all the rage (even coal, for god' sake!) it was nice to see a big corporation promoting that they're doing something--anything--about it.

[BigOleDummy]

9. Of course you're right...

… but this song especially meant something to me far more than any monetary gain he may have gotten for selling this to Budweiser. Bob Dylan cannot need the relatively small amount of money he would have gotten for this. Cannot! And yes, I know and understand that some artists have very little control over their catalogs , all I was saying was that it disheartened me like no other one of these travesties have.