I am wondering now that Prince has sold his image and music to Chevy if other people are as disappointed in him as I am? I wasn’t bothered by the print ad, but now that Chevy is actually using his music and image in a commercial I am kind of saddened. It’s almost like the end of another era as far as Prince is concerned because he is no longer above corporate shilling.

For those of you that haven’t seen the commercial Prince is featured in Chevrolet commercial singing “Little Red Corvette”. The clip is taken from the movie “Sign O’ the Times”.

I have read on other threads that people thought that Warner Brothers somehow had sold the music and Prince had not given them permission but this is not true. Warner Brothers does not own the “live” version of “Little Red Corvette” featured in “Sign O’ the Times” because Warner Brothers passed on the movie in 1987 and Prince was forced to release it through Odeon Films and MCA Universal. Also as definitive evidence Prince himself asked people what they thought of him selling “Little Red Corvette” at one of the sound checks from the American “One Nite Alone” tour.

I have been a Prince fan for a long time now and I always liked the fact that he was independent and I’ve always admired him for turning down the large sums of money that he was offered from “Coke” and other large corporations particularly during the “Purple Rain” days. As far as I know he has never accepted sponsorship for any of his tours and because of this I’ve never been forced to look at “Bud Lite” ads on his stage.

Prince always seemed to look at his music like they were his creations and should not be used for corporate America to profit from and I really respected him for this.

So my question is what changed his mind? Why sell now? Is it possible that Prince desperately needs money or what event changed his mind about selling one of his “babies”? Is it likely now that we will now see his entire catalogue becoming available to the advertising community?

At the end of the day it’s not really that big of a deal, but I can’t help but feel a little sad.

I guess I am just interested in other peoples take on this.

i still say that the Purple Law Squad's gonna pay chevrolet a visit...i haven't seen the commercial yet, but i have a feelin i will soon enuff.

PlastikLuvAffair said:

First of all Prince discussed his selling of the song so it it legit and second I don't think a major company like Chevrolet is going to use something without permission in a national campaign. They are literally using his image from the movie so if they hadn't gotten permission Prince would have a very easy time winning the suit..



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[This message was edited Thu Oct 10 12:49:45 PDT 2002 by lovemachine]

lovemachine said:

...true. pardon me...

bops self upside the head

I have to see the commercial first, but i don't think i'll have a problem with it. Maybe i should, i don't know--but it didn't bother me to see the Chevy billboard with the LRC lyrics.

I guess if it was simply an ad to sell a new Corvette, i would definitely side with you. But from what i know about the ads, they're about the 50th anniversary and the car is an American icon.
That doesn't justify it, but maybe Prince felt it was ok for that reason. The car was the subject and partial inspiration for the song...if he wrote "Little Red Pinto" no one would have bought it.

mrchristian said:

little red pinto...baby, you're much 2--ka-booom!

lovemachine said:

For me it's not a black and white issue.

I HATE the fact that The Brothers Johnson's version of "Strawberry Letter 23" is used for selling cereal.

I HATE the fact that the Beatles "Revolution" was used to sell Nikes.

I HATE the fact that Led Zep's "Rock and Roll" was used to sell Cadillacs.

I do NOT mind the fact that Brubeck's "Take 5" was used to sell the Lexus.

I HATE the fact that Earth Wind & Fire seemed to dumb-down their appearance and was in a ... soda commercial that I can't remember right now.

I do NOT mind the fact that "Brick House" was used for...some fast food commercial (I think)...but probably because I'm sick to death of the damn song and don't care about it anymore.

I did NOT mind the fact that the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" was used in a Red Cross commercial.

I did NOT mind the fact that BB King shilled for Burger King a few years ago (and that's another thread unto itself for me).

With this recent Prince commercial... had he been singing one of his songs and/or holding up a product (a la Robert Plant in that Coke commercial about 5 years ago with his song "Tall Cool One"), I'd be disgusted. Had the commercial been for some candy bar, soda, fast food joint...I'd be disgusted. How does that differ from him being shown in old performance footage for a commercial for a car that he wrote about 20 years ago? Most would probably say it doesn't. I just don't see it that way. It's ok, I don't mind being in the minority about it.

Supernova said:

co-sign!

that and i cannot stand that pontiac's usin "sex machine" 4 their ad campaign now...

I think it's time Prince become more of an icon. Tho' he may not like that label (iCON) he deserves a little more pop culture status than he has been getting.

I think it's cute 2 use Little Red Corvette in the commercial.

In regards 2 ur Coke comment I quote Turn It Up 2.0 page 52:

"Coca-Cola

This was filed at the Library of Congress on October 22nd 19992. It has been assumed that Prince composed a signature theme for the soft drink company, posibly as part of a deal with their sponsorship of the Act II tour of Europe, yet nothing has ever been comfirmed. In fact, close associates and band members at the time have no knowledge of prince writing anything for Coca-Cola, so this item remains something of a mystery."



I also remember Tina Turner singing Baby Im a Star in Target commercial--which I thought was extremely cheesy in that I don't think Tina Turner is talented, plus it was a corny song 2 choose 4 a Target commercial.

When I say Prince should b an icon, I don't mean that he should sell out and allow every1 2 use his songs 4 everything (what MJ is doing with the Beatles catalogue) I think here and there a little publicity is good, 2 keep him in the public's consciousness. He's all but disappeared in recent years.

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[This message was edited Thu Oct 10 13:09:58 PDT 2002 by Nep2nes]

Nep2nes said:

(doin a take like p did in "pr" before he pimp-slapped apples).....what?


co-sign. i remember cringin when i first saw that commercial.



pound edit till flat.
[This message was edited Thu Oct 10 13:11:19 PDT 2002 by PlastikLuvAffair]
[This message was edited Thu Oct 10 13:11:41 PDT 2002 by PlastikLuvAffair]

PlastikLuvAffair said:

Prince didn't have control of this (because you can't stop people from covering your music) but I remember him posting at the time that if he made any money for the commercial he was going to give it to charity.

PlastikLuvAffair said:

No one gets any in a 'Little Red Chevette"

I guess if it was simply an ad to sell a new Corvette, i would definitely side with you. But from what i know about the ads, they're about the 50th anniversary and the car is an American icon.
That doesn't justify it, but maybe Prince felt it was ok for that reason. The car was the subject and partial inspiration for the song...if he wrote "Little Red Pinto" no one would have bought it.[/quote]

I finally saw this commercial 2day and thought it was so cool! It is a classy looking commercial and I think it shows Prince in a positive light...I think it's time that Prince was back in the public world...Yes, he's all over the music pages but this commercial will put him back in the average Joe's mind sitting around watching TV...And yes, he's presented as an American Icon and it's about time...Aloha~

The worst/most tasteless ad was the H&R Block ad using the Beatles 'Taxman'. George Harrison hadn't even been dead for a week, and here's one of his best tunes in a f*cking ad for H&R bleedin' Block.

But the Prince one is cool, especially since Prince authorized it.

-SWANGisallaboutthescrilla

I'm torn...

I just now saw the ad. His music ends a medley of other artist's who've been "inspired by corvettes". His LRC was definately from the SOTT movie. At the end of the commercial, there's this gorgeous new vette (i guess) that looks like it came out of the 40's.

I used 2 love 2 brag how Prince hasn't sold out... how'd he's always gone on tour without corporate sponsors. Now he's in an ad with Chevy. Hmmm.

Yet, I have no qualms with Sting sellin Compaq computers or Jaguar's. Hmmm.

Frank Zappa never toured with sponsorship, nor did Neil Young... they r so cool, still. (RIP Zappa).

Then again, Michael Jackson has been sponsored up the ass with Pepsi and LAgear etc...and I've never had a problem with that.

This does, however, end a era of Prince standing alone, or above the others. Did he "sell out"? Hmmm, I honestly can't answer that. Has he lost some of his cool? I guess, yeah.

Will this stop me from buying his next cd or attending his next concert? Hell no.

So, I guess, in the big picture... it doesn't bother me that much.

I just saw the commercial 4 the 1st time about 20 minutes ago,I'M ESTATIC!!! I love it! I yelled out when I noticed it was really him on the commercial(he automatically makes me scream)...I think it's cool:)

not shocked at all.Prince has always been about the Money.He wrote "You got the Right One Baby" for Ray Charles 11 Years back&got Paid pretty good for it.I Mean Prince likes the Cheese&it's good Business.folks use to Bag on Michael Jackson for doing this but MJ made Sound Business with it.Stevie Wonder allowed "Superstition" for the Tiger Woods Commerical&that was very Smart on His Part IMHO.

I for one have no opinion on this.

I know if it were me though, I wouldn't think twice. I'd take the easy money!!!

I've always wondered how long it would take before this song would be in a Corvette ad. The commercial was classy and it's about time that Prince gets his ass back in the public light again. The world isn't the same without him around.

purplecam said:

The commercial is not for a fucking Corvette. The commercial is for Chevrolet Cars. There was not a Corvette at the end of the commercial when "Prince" walks out back to get into his shiny new red SSR. Not a red Corvette.

This shows that Chevrolet, Chevrolet's advertising agency and Prince all have their heads up their asses, for different reasons.

I suppose that Chevy paid large sums of jing and at the same time said something like: "Prince baby, we'll say in the commercial that you and Elton and the American Pie song dude are all GREAT ARTISTS! People will know that you're still around and you'll be number one at the bank again in no time."

purplecam said:

I couldn't agree more...a world without Prince just isn't the same.

lovemachine said:

I think it sucks.

Weeelll. . .the ad kisses his ass, I kinda like that part.

I guess I hope this is an isolated thing, BECAUSE the song is in fact about a product (sorta), and because the song is such an overblown commercial success anyway, why not? But I hate the idea of somebody's first exposure to a Prince song being in an ad. If I ever see Folgers using Starfish and Coffee or some damn thing, I'll be pissed.

I imagine Prince went for this because he actually is into fast sporty cars, and thought it would be kinda cool.

Doves,
Mel!ssa

The commercial itself sucks. Am I disappointed in Prince allowing them to use the footage? No, though I can see why people think it's a little hypocritical of Prince to sell the rights to Chevy after the comments made in the fairly recent past about corporate America and art.

I just wonder how Larry "this song isn't about a car" Graham feels about it.

squirrelgrease said:

I'm surprised I haven't seen any Princefucks say that for all we know Prince might have donated the money he got from Chevy to charity as compensation for the air pollution that comes along with driving Chevy's.

OMG how many time to we have to analyse the Chevy add?

loosekiss said:

The commercial has only been running a few days so I think it's still a relevent topic. It's not as if we are still discussing the print ad.

I love it!! I think it's tastefully done.
yeah...I guess if it was him holding up a taco from the bell or something that would be cheesy but...this commercial is pretty cool...cept for the fact that it's not about a corvette...that's kinda weird.

RU Kidding me people? ATLEAST CHEVY REMEMBERS PRINCE! Can't say so for many other people.

mistermaxxx said:

Prove it.