Johnny Rotten, the lead singer for the legendary punk brand, The Sex Pistols, is starring in a $9 million campaign on British television for Country Life butter. The campaign marks the first time the 52-year-old, whose real name is John Lydon, has appeared in a TV commercial.
U.K. marketers believe the notoriously controversial and bad-mouthed Mr. Lydon was picked because he's a British icon while the singer said he did the commercial because it was made for him.
"People know I only do things that I want to or that I believe in and I have to do it my way," Mr. Lydon told the Guardian. "I've never done anything like this before and never thought I would, but this Country Life ad was made for me and I couldn't resist the opportunity."
In the cheeky commercial, Mr. Lydon, dressed in tweeds, gallivants among Morris dancers, dairy farmers and herds of cows, questioning why he likes Country Life and emphasizing the strong British connection of the brand. He concludes, "I buy Country Life because it tastes the best."
At the height of the punk movement in 1977, the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen sparked outrage across the U.K. when it was released during the week of the Queen's silver jubilee. Mr. Lydon was attacked on the street.
Music purists were again rattled at seeing one of their heroes "selling out" their anti-corporate and anti-establishment ideals for a buck. But rock songs have become fairly common in commercials, including many with messages running counter to the songs lyrics. A large outcry occurred when the Beatle's song, Revolution, was used in a Nike ad in 1987.
Increasingly, songs by Iggy Pop, The Clash, The Ramones and other punk icons have begun backing commercials as well. A song by Nirvana was recently used in an MLB video game.
But using Mr. Lydon as a spokesperson for a brand represents a further treacherous step for some.
Probably the last similar leap has been the appearance of Dennis Hopper, star of counter-culture films such as Easy Rider, in commercials for Ameriprise Financial. In the long-running campaign created by Saatchi, Mr. Hopper extols edgy baby boomers to continue to follow their dreams through smart retirement planning.
"Boomers aren't going to spend this phase of life playing shuffleboard," Kim Sharan, chief marketing and communications officer at Saatchi, told Adweek at the time the ads were launched in 2006. "There is no better figure to personify our message than legendary actor Dennis Hopper, who embodies the spirit of the generation."
Discussion Questions: What do you think of the use of counterculture and even anti-establishment icons as spokespersons for brands? How has matching spokespersons to brands changed over the years? Is it less important for the spokesperson to embody the message of the brand?