In 2002, Sean "Diddy" Combs released an album whose title proclaimed, "We Invented the Remix." More than two decades later, Combs was still proving his dominance of the form — in a 2023 Super Bowl ad for Uber Eats.
In the meta ad, executives ask Combs to craft a song to promote Uber One. While a consigliere insists, "Diddy don't do jingles," the media mogul does make hits. Soon, Combs is overseeing Montell Jordan, Donna Lewis, Haddaway and Kelis as they rework their biggest hits with lyrics about the subscription offering.
Like he was at his cultural peak, Diddy was once again at the center of a trend, albeit one not in the music world but in adland. The Uber Eats spot is the splashiest example of a recent phenomenon that finds marketers enlisting musicians to remix their hit songs into brand-friendly jingles. But while the tactic could help brands meet an oft-stated imperative — connecting with consumers around culture — it comes with its own considerations and pitfalls.
"As a brand that understands the power of music, there's a different level of fluency that needs to be demonstrated when it comes to knowing the artist and making sure this is a win-win for both [brand and artist]," said Joel Rodriguez, executive director of context planning at creative agency Translation.
"There could be a perfect song that communicates what the brand stands for… but there might be a big disconnect with the artists who actually made that song,” he said. “There's multiple layers that have to go into consideration."
Two generations, one stone
In many such efforts — which include Chex Mix having Sir Mix-A-Lot remix “Baby Got Back” as “Bagel Is Back," Pepperidge Farm enlisting Lisa Loeb to rewrite "Stay (I Missed You)" to celebrate Old Bay Goldfish and Wendy's tapping T-Pain to turn "Buy U a Drank” into "Buy U a Frosty" — marketers have teamed with musicians with hit songs from the '90s and early aughts. This approach lends these efforts a dual audience effect, comparable to how Disney and Pixar films deliver hidden jokes to parents while entertaining kids in the foreground, Rodriguez explained.
"Some of these brands are leaning towards these legacy artists and songs of yesteryear because of that effect," Rodriguez said. "We know [Gen Z] is leaning into nostalgia and a time before theirs, so there's something really powerful about discovery and rediscovery that's happening between these two audiences that feels like [hitting] two birds with one stone."
Campaigns that rely on musical nostalgia have also been a bit tongue-in-cheek, a tone that could be key for reaching consumers who remember such songs from their childhoods, said Zach Pollakoff, executive producer at music house Heavy Duty Projects.
"That's the taste and appetite of a millennial audience: a slight irony in terms of revisiting these artists," Pollakoff said. "If that's to be the case, just be careful about only one thing being funny: if the lyrics are funny, then the performance has to be serious, and if the lyrics are serious, there's some latitude with a silly performance."
For Pepperidge Farm, having Loeb remake her 1994 hit "Stay" into an ode to a limited-time Old Bay Goldfish offering allowed a playful brand that has evolved from a kid's snack to a snack for everyone to turn consumer feedback into love-song lyrics.
"We looked back at a lot of the praise and fervor that surrounded the product from last year, and the praise read like a love song to Old Bay Goldfish," said Chris Tutor, vice president, integrated marketing, at Pepperidge Farm parent Campbell Soup Company. "There was a sense of longing for and missing of the product."
For the brand, "Stay" — a '90s favorite released on the soundtrack of iconic Gen X rom-com "Reality Bites" — best captured that longing. But despite its retro bona fides, nostalgia was not a part of the song's selection, Tutor explained, giving credence to the idea of a dual audience on these campaigns.
"It is a song from an era that appeals to our [evolved] consumer but also appeals to consumers today, and you can see that in terms of viewership of the video and engagement with Lisa by a younger demographic, as well," he said.
Cash grab or cultural play
Wendy's recent "Fros-T-Pain" campaign, which includes both early-aughts nostalgia for a revitalized rapper and a nod to the “sir, this is a Wendy’s” meme, demonstrates how brands can remix old hits to promote new products while touching on several cultural touchpoints. But one of T-Pain's new lyrics — "Can't believe you even listened this far" — could detract from the effort.
"There's this quirkiness to it that just fits for the Wendy's brand, but it's almost like the artist is throwing a jab at the brand at the same time," Rodriguez noted, comparing the move to an infamous 1997 Gap commercial wherein LL Cool J rapped "for us by us, on the low" — a not-so-subtle nod to upstart brand FUBU.
Whether or not target consumers will see the Wendy's campaign as an authentic effort or a cash grab by T-Pain (who also reworked Alka-Seltzer's “plop, plop, fizz, fizz” slogan on TikTok and remade 1999 song-of-the-summer "Steal My Sunshine" for Lipton) is unclear. But the example illustrates the opportunity and the challenge of remixing old favorites versus commissioning new originals. When commissioning remixes, brands are tapping into the equity of and emotional connection to the original song by adding a "fresh coat of paint."
"You're creating a double take moment for those who might know the song, but there's something slightly off about it," Rodriguez said. "There's this surprisingly familiar effect that you're experiencing."
Wholly original songs don't have that cultural cache, leading such campaigns to potentially have a narrower audience and require more work to roll out, but possibly lending them a higher upside.
"With some of the brands that we're seeing leaning into the nostalgia world, I think that's working," Rodriguez said. "But I'm more excited about starting from scratch and creating new cultural artifacts that can be parodied, remixed and re-expressed."
