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What is this about, now?
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/17/2015 12:50:39

Good Morning.

I'm sure you've seen the recent GMC commercial about Rembrandt or something, to an instrumental version of The Who's "Eminence Front"?




This ad has been on heavy rotation during my morning news show over the past few days, and every time I see it, I develop new twitches and irritations.

"A pitcher who can paint the corners is known as a Rembrandt????"

Yeah, OK GMC, whatever. I've been a baseball fan since Yaz patrolled left field, and I've never heard of such a thing. A number of comments throughout some baseball forums suggest that the folks at GMC have never actually talked to anyone that played the game when they came up with this one.

But then, why Rembrandt? Did he have a particular propensity for getting paint in those 90-degree angles at the edge of his work? Here's "Storm on the Sea of Galilee":

http://locicero.net/teachrembrandt/lesson_plans_htm/storm_on_sea_of_galilee.jpg


I don't know about you, but those corners look pretty bland an uninspiring.

Here's a Pollock....that's got way more stuff going on in the corners if you ask me. Too bad he never played baseball, I suppose.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/00/58/75/0058751ebb0a31f8773fd16aa76af672.jpg


But that's not what irritates me the most about this ad. It's actually the music. I'm sure you're familiar with the tune, presented below in all it's awesomeness. The boys from London recorded many important and classic works, but this one has always been my favourite.



In addition to making up the baseball term "Rembrandt", one would presume that the ad executives at GMC also didn't quite take the time to listen to this song. An "eminence front" is described by the Urban Dictionary as such:


A song by the rock group The Who about the facade one erects, or the pose one assumes, whether from pride, arrogance, insecurity or some other motive, in order to conceal his or her identity or essential self.


So are GMC vehicles an eminence front?

Or is it the technology? (see also: Volkswagen)

Or maybe it's the advertising?

I suppose the world will never know.

Of course, they're not the only ones; every four years we're treated to the spectacle of politicians mis-appropriating music for their campaigns, either without permission, or using tunes that sound great but are lyrically opposed to what it is they are representing.

The most famed of these is "Born in the USA"...used by Saint Ronnie of Santa Barbara during the 1984 campaign, it pretty much sums up all that is wrong with using rock-and-roll in a political campaign. 31 years later, and this lesson is yet to be learned by many.

Yeah, and I totally can't mention The Boss and not post that video, so we'll end with that today.


 

1 comments (Latest Comment: 10/17/2015 15:26:53 by BobR)
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Comment by BobR on 10/17/2015 15:26:53
It says right in the lyrics: "Eminence front - It's a put on"