Bowie the pitchman

A few days ago, I posted a contemporary ad featuring Bowie’s song, “Fame.” Since then I came across this collection of ads featuring Bowie himself, in life. A few things stand out— is that actually Bowie in the late 60s ad for “Luv?” (By the way, what is “Luv?”). The Japanese ad for Crystal Jun Rock, an alcoholic beverage, features the instrumental piece Bowie actually wrote for the commercial called, “Crystal Japan,” which is actually probably my favorite Bowie instrumentals. (Its worth noting that Bowie denied that he wrote it for the commercial, but the commercial is where it was originally used, and its name is obviously connected to the product). In any case, imagine that, not only getting Bowie for the ad but getting him to write an original piece of music for it. He did something similar with the Pepsi ad he did with Tina Turner. While he didn’t actually write new music, he altered the lyrics for, “Modern Love.” The (first) ad for XM radio seems to be a play on the idea of “the Man Who Fell to Earth.” Or am I overthinking it. The second XM ad seems to actually make no sense (why would Bowie steal Snoop Dog’s jewelry). The Lous Vuitton ad also makes no sense— what does “I’d Rather Be High” have to do with what’s happening in the ad?

Maybe the most interesting of these commercials is the French ad for Vittel water featuring Bowie living with earlier versions of himself. I don’t know what the French narrator is saying, but its visually interesting in any case.