Lots of you have asked my opinion on the CHEERS theme being used in an Applebee’s commercial. I’d like it a lot more if I were making money off of it, I'll tell ya that. I don’t think this is the first time the CHEERS theme was used. Didn’t it appear in an Allstate commercial a number of years ago? Or am I making that up? (And if so, why would I make up something like that?)
And then there was some diet commercial with Kirstie Alley and some of the CHEERS gang. That I know I saw.
Yes, I think it sullies the brand. Do I condone it? God NO.
But I hear Beatles songs and Springsteen songs and Dylan songs used for commercials. Lots of popular records now hawk products. Lots of venerable sports stadiums now are named for corporate sponsors. (Before you baseball fans say that’s sacrilegious remember Wrigley Field and Bush Stadium.)
It’s the world we live in. I guess the question one must ask is if you’re a rights holder do you want your show/song/stadium/franchise associated with that particular product. When you think of CHEERS you (hopefully) think of a certain level of quality. Is Applebee’s on that commensurate restaurant level? I can hear you calling out the answer -- one that Applebee's would not appreciate.
And I think that’s what riled up so many fans of CHEERS. It’s not so much that the sacred theme is being used in a commercial, it’s that it’s for Applebee’s. If Applebee’s used the theme from THE ROPERS I don’t think anyone would care. But not CHEERS. And some of those burgers look disgusting.
from By Ken Levine
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