Henry Rollins defends using punk rock songs in ads:

These bands are not being co-opted or selling out at all. Selling out is when you make the record you are told to make instead of the one you want to make. I wonder if it ever occurred to these people that the reason the music of these interesting and alternative bands is being recruited is because their fans are now the ones calling the shots. In other words, we have arrived!

Not that my opinion matters, but I think he’s right.  There was something like an AARP ad that had the Buzzcocks “What Do I Get?” playing, and the first time I saw it, I was a little put off.  Then I thought about how those that liked the Buzzcocks back in the day…  Singles Going Steady was released in 1979, after they had been a band for four years.  If you were say 20 in 1979, in 2007 you’re 48.  At 48, it’s not too hard to believe that you’re thinking about whatever it is that the AARP offers.  Plus, as Rollins mentions, would you rather hear the Buzzcocks in a commercial, or some lame pop song?  Think of it as a mini-music video.  It’s seriously better than whatever you’d hear on MTV.