moe. will. write. your. company. a. jingle.
We take some comedic pot-shots at moe. from time to time, mostly because they’re a band with a good sense of humor. If a group’s clever enough to re-create the fight scene from Raising Arizona on its tour blog at a time when rumors of “the band’s creative differences” ran rampant, surely they can take a little ribbing from a couple of jerks with a website.
But, shit, sometimes moe. just deserves what they get. And either the moe. organization conspired to pass along its best inside joke yet that sailed wildly over my head, or some pranksters hacked into the band’s listserv over the weekend. Otherwise, I’m not entirely sure what explains the following mass e-mail, a note about corporate partnerships with its fans that included this dubious last paragraph:
If you work for a company that would possibly like to talk about some marketing opportunities, whether it be sponsorship, partnering, or possibly having moe. write a song for an ad, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me. We owe everything to our fans and if we could team up with some, we think it would be a lot of fun and ultimately, beneficial for everyone.
Wait, is that for real? Are times that tough for the self-described indie-jam rockers that they’re praying Tampax will make Don’t Fuck With Flo their new jingle? Do you, moe. fan, have an in with T.G.I.Fridays, and if so, could you possibly get Happy Hour Hero into the weekend rotation? Was The Conch’s Blue Jeans Pizza the band’s effort to kill two jingle birds with one stone? This e-mail has left me with more questions than answers, and most of them surround moe.’s newfound evolution into Uncles Jesse and Joey in Full House. C’mon, you watched it too.
- Related video: Thirty-six minute Vegoose webcast of moe.
- Read on after the jump for the full letter from the band…
Dear moe. fans,Both the band and the moe. organization have always marveled at the wide range of talent, interest and professions within the moe. fan base. It’s amazing to watch fans gathered in the audience and come to realize that there is a doctor rocking out next to a web designer who’s next to a mechanic who hangs out with a librarian who is jamming by a CFO, who is standing next to…well, you get the picture.moe. and the organization also pride themselves on growing organically and are always on the lookout for projects and opportunities that push the boundaries of traditional music industry practices.
That being said, the moe.org is reaching out to fans and friends to learn whether they are associated with any companies that might have an interest in getting involved with the release of a new album and the sponsorship of events like moe.down and Summer Camp. Over the years, many fans have expressed interest in these situations and some opportunities have worked out. We have a feeling there might be more fans out there who have shied away from approaching us, and have had the “no way this would happen” attitude. But no idea is too crazy and all should be heard.
If you work for a company that would possibly like to talk about some marketing opportunities, whether it be sponsorship, partnering, or possibly having moe. write a song for an ad, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me. We owe everything to our fans and if we could team up with some, we think it would be a lot of fun and ultimately, beneficial for everyone.
Thanks,
Jon Topper
moe.manager
topper@moe.org
“New from McDonalds, all white-meat spicy chicken sandwhich.. now with moe. spice!” (w/epic thirty minute meat jam playing in the background?????)
…or maybe Amtrack could use “Plane Crash” in a new campaign to drum up interest in travel by train…
Well done, Neeko…
Maybe ABC can use “Waiting for the Punchline” in its promos for the Cavemen > Carpoolers Tuesday Night comedy block.
Personally I’d like ESPN to use “Spine of a Dog” every time they lead into their incessant Michael Vick stories.
How can a website make fun of anything that depends on advertising. If Glide was so pure tit would not have any advertsing at all. I do not see the diference. moe. pays sites to advertise and magazines to adverise but i they want to try and make a dollar by seeing what is available to them close to home that is a very smart buisness move. Relix has an insert from a cigarette company in it. I bet you a million dollars moe. would not do an ad for that company.
Okay, Alright Steve… moe. has a jingle for you called “Down Boy”…
You’ll bet me a million dollars the moe. will not do an ad for American Spirit? That seems like a silly bet. I’ll bet you a million dollars I can’t slam dunk a killer whale through a Nerf hoop.
Do you think moe. would do a jingle for Nerf? That would be pretty sweet. Nerf could use the cultural relevance.
Um, Steve, comparing the relationship between journalism/advertising to bands/jingles is idiotic. There’s like, hundreds of years of precedent for publications making most of their revenue through ads. There are decades of precedent for bands making most of their revenue through touring and album sales, not advertising. Begrudgingly we’re all beginning to accept ties to corporations — like, Wilco’s questionable VW campaign — but directly shilling for a company by writing a custom jingle? That’s fucking ridiculous — basically the journo equivalent of Rolling Stone putting a giant bottle of Axe Body Spray on its cover, and instead of writing any stories at all, just sending its subscribers 100 pages of coupons.
“WHERE’D THE (fucking) CHEESE GO?” - Anyone remember this WEEN Classic? - botched jingle contract w/ Pizza Hut…
http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2004/02/weens_unrelease.php
btw - I loved that ween tune on the tube.
Regardless of the reality of this moe. letter,…if you chip away your ego for a second, it’s kind of a cool letter. I appluad its intent and tone and the moe. org. good people.
I could see a corp. sponsor for some of their festies and upstate ny bizzes benefiting from their partnership …All, of course, pending the reality of the letter.
I also thought that ‘write a jingle’ part was a joke when I read that email this morning. Their supposed to be working on new material these days….Maybe they’ve got writer’s block?
Yeah…I don’t understand this move at all. It is very very strange.
a cheesy commercial for Sears or something would be pretty weak, but I’m fine with them going the Moby route and writing songs specifically for some commercial use. Having a song on Grey’s Anatomy or Scrubs…I’d be happy for the band to make some extra cash and attention.
Eddie Veder writing the soundtrack for ‘Into The Wild’ is awesome - I’d have np with the band writing and getting paid for a project like that.
“Kids” R Us
Get a pinball machine, ping pong, pool cue, or a foosball table at Crazy Uncle Larry’s Rec World!
dismount your high horse
moe. is a professional band. they have a right to make money. I think its cool that they reach out to their fan base for new opportunities to make a living off their music. I don’t see a problem at all.
“dismount your high horse
moe. is a professional band. they have a right to make money. I think its cool that they reach out to their fan base for new opportunities to make a living off their music. I don’t see a problem at all.”
i dont think there are any horses involved in this post. I think its a slightly off-kilter request form the band that caught more than a few people off their gaurd, and the post is a humorous commentary on it. humor. its good for healthy bones
[...] moe. reaches out to fans: Don’t Fuck With Flo to be new Tampax jingle? [...]
[...] moe.’s Not So Much Kidding About the Jingles We had some fun at the expense of the popular indie-jam rock band moe. some five weeks ago, taking the piss out of the group’s management after it blasted out an e-mail to fans about the band’s innate potential for corporate partnerships, synergistic sponsorships and customized ad jingles. [...]