Tuesday June 19, 2007

The Same Old Song

Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid has an official campaign song: “You and I” by Celine Dion. Hey, that’s great. It worked for Chrysler, right? Um, wrong.

Ad geeks will recall that Chrysler’s tres cher deal with Dion—built around the anthemic “I Drove All Night”—was declared a marketing disaster in 2003. The automaker paid $14 million for a three-year arrangement with the chanteuse, but stopped using her after less than a year. Chrysler’s agency, BBDO, warned it wouldn’t work, but the client didn’t listen. The dealers revolted and hotshot Peter Arnell—who brokered the deal—got booted off the account. And all this happened for a reason that should be—but apparently is not—salient to Hillary’s handlers. Namely, even in 2003 Dion appealed to consumers with an average age of 52, according to Ad Age, and Steven Levitt (the man behind the so-called “Q scores”) characterized Dion’s likability numbers as “not terrific.” I know “You and I” was chosen via online poll, but still.

Also, as TPM notes, “You and I” was originally written for an Air Canada commercial. Come on, Hillary. We have got to reduce our troubling dependence on foreign theme songs.