U2 & NASCAR: What’s up with that?
U2 on a NASCAR TV commercial? That’s the question on a lot of people’s minds these days. Our Marylinn Maione wondered about it in her OTR column last night. Fans in our forum are asking WTF? Heck, even the LA Times is blogging about it:
Pop & Hiss has reached out to the U2 camp for more info, and for clarification as to what clearances and permissions may have been needed. It’s possible the band was just as surprised as some of its fans were at hearing the tune in the network promo. Some may recall that Fox once used the Arcade Fire’s “No Cars Go” in a promo for the NFL, and it was widely reported that the network did not seek — or need — the band’s permission.
That’s my belief — that no permission was needed. FOX would likely just pay for this via the regular ASCAP/BMI licensing arrangements. But I’m not an expert on this and reserve the right to be wrong.
If you haven’t seen the commercial, here it is.
Last 4 posts by m2
- Imagine If You'd Never Heard The Joshua Tree... - January 30th, 2010
- Eno on Bono, U2, & Coldplay - January 17th, 2010
- How to Use @U2's iPhone App - January 13th, 2010
- Wanna hear 'Heartland' live? - January 12th, 2010
5 Responses to “U2 & NASCAR: What’s up with that?”
Leave a Reply
Seriously, this makes my stomach churn. I hope U2 didn’t approve it. I’ve only seen the ad once, so hopefully I can wash it from my brain and still enjoy “Bad” without thoughts of race cars going through my head.
Bono did say “these fast cars will do me no good.”
This is not the first time U2 and NASCAR have been linked - there was the U23D car driven by Elliot Sadler that raced around the time the film was released. (http://blog.u23dmovie.com/blog/2008/02/u23d-on-track.html)
It’s not like FOX is the only one in the game…ESPN is using “City of Blinding Lights” to promote the World Cup.
It’s also possible that someone in NASCAR marketing has great taste in music. More ways to get U2’s music out there to more people — not a bad thing, in my book.
Besides, more people are NASCAR fans that you might think.
their music has been used to promote a host of sports events.personally I would not look out my window to watch nascar, but i think most peoples problem here is with stereotypical nascar people,and not so much the promo.people its easier to say what your ideals are than live them.ohhh my stomach is churning, cars making left turns all day!Nothing funnier than dumb people who think they have a brain
It’s funny that people have a problem with a U2 song used in a NASCAR commercial but promoting Obama at his inauguration was OK, which I thought was a divisive move. I’m not a fan of NASCAR, but I’m also not a fan of double standards. Sometimes U2 shows up in places you don’t approve of; that’s just the way it is.