Cooley Commercial

[ramonz]

Looks like Cooley is following in the footsteps of one of his heroes. I guess Johnny Cash "Money" was a "sellout" as well.

Holy shit, that's Cooley catching the STP bottle!

[GuitarManUpstairs]

This is great - good for Cooley. It's funny, during his Athens solo show in the intro to Cartoon Gold he mentioned it was about a bar tender he "used to feel sorry for." and after the song he says, "Man i hope he got that commercial he wanted so bad.....I've been do'in a bit of that myself....but I ain't supposed to talk about it..." I thought he was just being facetious about placing your dreams on that kind of thing or making some comment on folks falsely bragging about supposedly being in a TV bit that they're "not supposed to talk about" but hell low and behold he was serious.

[GuitarManUpstairs]

Looks like Cooley is following in the footsteps of one of his heroes. I guess Johnny Cash "Money" was a "sellout" as well.

I like the part where Johnny motions to the woman and says "And it's easy to use!" Gotta love the 70's.

You beat me to it.. Was gonna mention the same thing. He might as well have said, "It's so easy to use, hell....even a woman can do it."

[beantownbubba]

I think it's really interesting that they used one song from each of Cooley and Hood. I have no idea what the facts are but I'd like to think that it was a bit of sharing the wealth (or at least opportunity) and if so, that would be really cool. Hell, even if it was totally random it's still pretty cool.

[one belt loop]

I think it's really interesting that they used one song from each of Cooley and Hood. I have no idea what the facts are but I'd like to think that it was a bit of sharing the wealth (or at least opportunity) and if so, that would be really cool. Hell, even if it was totally random it's still pretty cool.

My guess is that some marketing dork in SF listened to a bunch of songs and can't tell Cooley from Hood, anyway. Just wanted to see how they'd fit in the background.

[Flying Rabbit]

Good for Cooley.

I don't mind this, one bit. Best thing that happens, it makes the band some $ and brings some new fans into the fold. Worst thing, Cooley finds a lucrative career in tv VO work, and quits DBT. And, I doubt that's going to happen.

[Zip City]

For the record, I'm 100% on board with these ads. It's some bonus $$$ that are long overdue.

[Duke Silver]

"This is Mike Cooley for Life Alert..."

("I've been falling so long" line from "Gravity's Gone" plays)

[GuitarManUpstairs]

"This is Mike Cooley for Life Alert..."

("I've been falling so long" line from "Gravity's Gone" plays)

[Gaetzi]

LOL Duke!

[Rocky]

Not only am I OK with this I am going to buy some of that shit just because the ads featured songs by the Drive-By Truckers.
How about that?

[Kudzu Guillotine]

STP Is Back With The King



You know your brand is huge if society's fringe elements name a drug after it. Aftermarket fuel additive STP used to be that brand. It was part of our collective unconscious and was ubiquitous in racing: No respectable stock race car or top fuel dragster was without that oval "STP" logo painted somewhere on it's nacelle.

Now, after several years of little to no advertising, parent Armored AutoGroup is preparing a campaign to reintroduce the brand. The company is launching a TV, digital, radio and event marketing campaign this week, via the San Francisco office of DDB, which won the account last fall.

The campaign, with a $6 million media budget, stars NASCAR legend Richard Petty's 2010 Dodge Challenger, with a Fight Club-esque message that if you have to ask whether you belong in the left lane ... you don't belong in the left lane. Back in STP's (and Petty's) halcyon days, the driver raced an STP branded Plymouth Road Runner Superbird.

The campaign, promoting STP's "Complete Fuel System Cleaner" and its ability to maximize driving under all conditions, comprises a 30- and 15-second TV spot in which Petty's Challenger zooms down the highway, in the left lane, while slowpokes get out of the car's way. Voiceover is by Mike Cooley, lead singer of Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers, who does the voiceover. Another version of the spot is going live this weekend with Petty doing voiceover.

The band also does the music for the TV spots. The ads direct viewers to Facebook, where visitors are encouraged to join the “Left Lane Club” and enter a chance to win a Richard Petty-autographed car.

The TV spots will be on ESPN, Fox, Speed, Fuel, Versus, Spike, TNT, CMT and TBS.

There is also a web-based "making of" video about the TV ad. It shows the process of "casting" Richard Petty’s Dodge Challenger, and includes interviews with Richard Petty at his garage in North Carolina, where he talks about his nearly half-century relationship with the STP brand.

There's that Southern Rock thing again. And could that sentence be any more redundant/awkward?

I don't think they'll ever escape the Southern Rock tag and comparisons to Skynyrd. In interviews Patterson has tried to distance the Truckers from that label as well as "alt.country" but it's been to no avail.

['Scratch]

"I'm Mike Cooley and when I'm drinking rotgut moonshine back in the woods, I rely on the Emerson 40 Watt lightbulbs. Nothing projects the shadows from a cage better."

[buddymo]

Hey, I'm Patterson, and when the President's Penis is Missing, I use the new Garmin Nuvi 6000 to find it! Ole!

[Zip City]

"Shut your mouth and get your ass on Southwest Airlines!"

[Flying Rabbit]

Not my best work, but pretty good for 10 min photoshop sesh.

[Rocky]

That's cool as Hell Rabbit.

[colodogdoc]

Not my best work, but pretty good for 10 min photoshop sesh.

Pretty sure I am looking at my next t-shirt...

['Scratch]

"If you're going to slip a ring on her finger from the window of a van as it drives away, you better be damn sure it came from Jared's."

[chickenwingpuke]

STP = Stop and Take a Piss

[oilpiers]

In honor of STP I updated my avatar with a personal pic. (This is for the Lookout Mountain one, that's why Patterson is included!)

[211poundsofpork]

Yeah, I'm one of those whiners about music on the car commercials, etc. as well, but I have to be the hypocrite here and I don't care: It's so awesome that DBT did these commercials. Plus, they effin' rock! 'Bout time Cooley did some voiceovers! Hey Clams, let me know how that STP works out in your Accord, because I have one as well.

[fistfightsandtears]

i think this i awesome and about time. Cooley's got that that bad ass voice and could easily be the next Sam Elliot, i cant see him in "road house" but narrating a new labowski would fit. And i do have to admit the commercial did have me thinking about switching from havaoline to STP

[Duke Silver]

"If you're going to slip a ring on her finger from the window of a van as it drives away, you better be damn sure it came from Jared's."

"Shut your mouth and get your ass on Southwest Airlines!"

[PADIRT]

How about:

"Cooley Jeans, because our loops don't bust"

or

"Wealthy Man's paint- better coverage with no primer needed"

Truth is, say what you want, these boys have been due for a little more exposure and a little more cash in their pockets for a LONG while. Touring gets some cash. Record sales on a decline, with a lucrative deal, doesn't make you rich. I don't care how they have to make it. They have my dime for shows. They have my dime for buying their music and swag. As long as I can wake up and their music can put a smile on my face or make my day better, I DON'T CARE how they make it. Keep on truckin' boys.

And Cooley could voice over anything, JMO.

[PeterG]

Fuckin' Sweet!
Love hearing the Stroker Ace's voice over and the song choices are perfect for these spots.
I hope each one of them gets as much $$$ as freakin' possible from this,
lord knows they've earned it.
"if you're not sure you belong in the club,
you don't belong in the club"...truer words and all. awesome!

[PeterG]

Not my best work, but pretty good for 10 min photoshop sesh.

Pretty sure I am looking at my next t-shirt...

How about he Cooley quote about being in the club along the bottom?
If YOU are unsure you belong in the club,
YOU DO NOT belong in the club!...
I'm IN for 1!

[John A Arkansawyer]

I used to be a real purist about this sort of thing--I mean, I was so against corporate rock that I wouldn't open for the Flat Duo Jets because they were on a mainstream label--but now I take it case by case. Some songs shouldn't ever be used like this. I once wrote a nasty little note in a column about hearing Love Reign O'er Me in a Pepsi commercial, and god knows what I'd've done if Imagine had gotten the treatment. But times have changed, rock and roll isn't making any more billionaires (which is okay by me), and as long as a songwriter uses good judgement, I can live with it.

If anyone can figure out how to work Three Dimes Down into a commercial for Trojan rubbers, I'm for it. Just don't touch Eyes Like Glue.

[Flying Rabbit]

Not my best work, but pretty good for 10 min photoshop sesh.

Pretty sure I am looking at my next t-shirt...

How about he Cooley quote about being in the club along the bottom?
If YOU are unsure you belong in the club,
YOU DO NOT belong in the club!...
I'm IN for 1!

It might be sterotypical, but I'd love to see this on a Dickies workshirt. DBT STP logo on back, "Cooley" embroidered above the pocket on the front. Maybe a cooley bird patch on the sleeve. One can dream, haha.

[Steve French]

Cooley could wear a Nomex jumpsuit with a McDonalds logo and I still wouldn't call him a sell out. These guys have been the anti-sellouts since the beginning. If STP finally recognized just how damn manly Cooley's voice is, and how kick ass DBT songs are....well, it's their fault it took so long.

this.

when I was a kid I had an STP sticker on my pushbike. I was fuckin' cool.

Now I want an STP sticker for my motorbike......