All You Need is To Consume

According to Wikipedia, on June 25th, 1967, 400 million people worldwide tuned into Our World, the first live, international satellite production. For this broadcast, at the height of the Vietnam War, the Beatles chose to perform their soon-to-be hit song, "All You Need is Love" which quickly became an anti-war anthem.

Today, however, the political message in "All You Need is Love" seem to have become diluted, if not completely erased. Indeed, the song has proven to be perfect for television advertising. All a sponsor need to do is fill in the blanks: "All You Need is Diapers" or "All You Need is a Credit Card". A song that was once rife with political and social commentary, in other words, seems to have been transformed into a product-pushing jingle.

Take, for instance, this 2008 Luvs diaper advertisement which privileges the most innocent reading of a rather complicated song.





Or, perhaps, examine this advertisement for the Chase Rewards Card in which "All You Need is Love" becomes "All You Need is To Consume."




Of course, many fans would argue that using a song by the Beatles to further capitalistic consumption goes against the very nature of the ethics of the group. However, it is important to remember that this issue of authenticity is multi-faceted and extremely complicated. An apartment in the Dakota, after all, is rather extravagent for a man that supposedly shunned commercialism.

Indeed, the Beatles have lent themselves and their image to advertising since the very beginning of their careers. Consider this 1964 Marlboro Cigarettes commercial.



So, you see, the nature of the usage of Beatles music in advertising is not as one-sided an examination as it might first appear.