HELL HAS FROZEN OVER

The latest installment of Chevrolet's "American Revolution" ad campaign ran during Major League Baseball's All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 12. Featured prominently in the commercial is the Steve Earle track "The Revolution Starts...Now."

We at cheezeball.net have a relatively nuanced approach to the corporate sell-out. We don't begrudge Richard Buckner his Volkswagen ad--undoubtedly he needed the dough. The Victoria's Secret spot that Bob Dylan did we find amusing--especially considering Dylan's remarks on the subject some 40 years ago. But Steve Earle? Mr. Anti-Establishment? Hawking the title track of an overtly political album to peddle gas-guzzling trucks? What the bloody hell is going on?

Unlike some other alt.county musicians, Earle doesn't seem to be in dire financial straits. In fact, in a relatively recent interview, [strangely no longer on the Onion's A.V. Club website, but available here] Earle claims that he makes "an obscene amount of money." Why the Chevy ad, then?

We can only conclude that Earle isn't kidding when he sings, "I kinda dig this global warming thing..." "Amerika v 6.0 (The Best We Can Do)"

Email inquiries to Mr. Earle's management (Dan Gillis), his record label (Artemis Records) and Chevrolet's ad agency (Campbell-Ewald) went unreturned.

Anyone who can shed light on this odd little Faustian pact is encouraged to contact us here. We would also love to hear from anyone who can locate a video capture of the advertisement (or just wishes to leave a comment, for that matter).

"The revolution starts here,
Where you work and where you play,
Where you lay your money down,
What you do and what you say,
The revolution starts...now."

Steve Earle, "The Revolution Starts...Now"

[14 JULY 2005]

STEVE EARLE REVISITED

As previously reported on this site, a recent installment of Chevrolet's "American Revolution" ad campaign prominently features the Steve Earle track "The Revolution Starts...Now." You can now view the commercial here. (Special thanks to Marj K. for sending along the link.)

Also worth the read, a brief snippet from the Chicago Tribune, reposted here. Earle's manager Dan Gillis is quoted as saying, "It's just a business decision we decided to make, and we went with it." We suspected as much. Your thoughts?

[14 AUGUST 2005]

ONCE AGAIN

Apparently the same commercial that left us scratching our heads angered a bunch of wingnuts on the opposite end of the political spectrum. (Sample reaction here.) While we couldn't figure out why Earle had gone corporate, they couldn't figure out why Chevrolet had hired a "radical musician." Sort of mollified our outrage. If Earle pissed off a bunch of Republican wackjobs by "selling out," maybe that makes the whole thing some sort of subversive act. Or maybe not. In any event, the thought of the commercial angering its target audience is rather amusing.

[24 MAY 2006]