TVSquad

Randy Waage at RetroCRUSH decided to throw together a list of ten pop songs that have been ruined by commercials. The interesting thing about the list is that he doesn't only cite ads that replays a song for its own use, but ones that use a new version of the song, complete with changed lyrics. Included in the list are HP's ruination of The Cure's "Pictures of You," Kraft's transformation of EMF's "Unbelievable" to "Crumbelievable" (so wonderfully parodied by Stephen Colbert), and Maxwell House's bastardization of "Our House" by Madness.

But it was another co-opting of a Madness song that was my favorite item on the list: Remember that mid-80s Brit-popish ad for the Colgate Pump? It did seem to be a very odd and interesting ad at the time, as if they just took a commercial made in the UK and decided to air it here in the States. Well, it was a take-off of a 1980 song by Madness called "Baggy Trousers," which I never knew before. Videos of both the ad and the Madness song are after the jump. Do you have any favorite songs that were ruined by cheesy ads? Let me know in the comments.