But Do They Get a Car?

"Lexus Original Fiction".  Doesn't sound right does it?  And as someone not exactly in the Lexus demographic I likely would have never known about a collaborative fiction effort over at Lexus Magazine had I not stumbled upon it this morning while searching for something else not Lexus (or fiction) related.  And here's where things get a little uncomfortable for those of us who don't feel comfortable seeing artists sell-out.  The "Original Fiction" is really just an advertisement for Lexus' IS F. (Couldn't they have paid someone to come up with a better name than that?  What happened to cool car names like Mustang and Cobra?)  For example, here's an excerpt from Arthur Phillips's opening chapter of the "Original Fiction":

He actually said that about my new car when I pulled up in it. He was on the stoop, talking to the Syrian guys who ran the beer-and-mango bodega on our corner. I put one leg out, flexing the calf for a film noir dismount, purring, “IS F,” and then I emerged, laughing, to hug him, because you cannot be more officially grown-up than accepting a wedding proposal and a job offer in the same week and then buying yourself a sweet Lexus sedan with your own money. He looked at the car, down the full length of it, his face a reprimand. “Nice wheels,” said Aziz.   

Or this from Curtis Sittenfeld*:

“Well…” Terence hesitated. Then he turned, reaching into the backseat. The Beast was so spacious inside that it took him a few seconds to find what he was looking for—and then he produced a plain cardboard box that was about eight by 12 inches. It was sealed shut with brown masking tape and, as far as I could see, had no writing on it.

Doesn't it make you a little sick at your stomach?  I know there's the argument that writers don't necessarily make a lot of coin so they should take what they can get.  Perhaps.  And perhaps I'm a bit overly idealistic.  Even a tad hypocritical what with my Google Ads pulling in my bubble gum money every day.   I still have a hard time stomaching some of my favorite bands (Wilco) selling their songs for car ads, now there's the possibility that one day I'll pick up a copy of the Jaguar Journal and read a poem by Billy Collins extolling the virtues of the anti-lock breaking system? 

I think I need to find me a deserted island somewhere.

Comments

[Pete]

At least Wilco isn't writing original songs for car commercials yet - it's just the songs off their latest album, which I can hardly begrudge them for. But if you start hearing Jeff Tweedy on a commercial crooning "I adore the independent suspension on my Lexus SUV", then you can start sharpening the wrist knife.

BMW did the same thing a few years ago, with podcasted BMW-themed stories. I could only stomach listening to a few minutes of the first story, in which the author seemed to somehow say "5 Series" in every paragraph.

[Jim H.]

Dude,

What about using the Lilys song "Ginger" in a Cadillac commercial? I mean, is nothing sacred? I, too, was stunned to hear Wilco on a car commercial. My take on it was that they had some young, hotshot Madison Ave ad exec who has the right (meaning, 'cool') taste in pop music. Remember when Michael Jackson sold Beatles's tunes for ads?

I saw Wilco for the first time this summer, outdoors in Atlanta. Been a fan since I first heard "Box Full of Letters." It poured rain the entire time. At the break Tweedy said, "Don't worry, we'll just keep playing until it stops raining." And believe it or not, it stopped just as the second encore was coming to an end. Is the guy God? Or what? He said he'd be back.

Just wanted to say, I like the new design of SoT. I chose black, as well, over at http://wisdomofthewest.blogspot.com
Drop by for a visit. I also use dark background/white lettering when I write sometimes. If you use a Mac and if you have OSX 10.4 or better, hit Control-Option-[Apple] and the numeral '8' all at the same time. Cool, huh? To undo, just do it again.

btw: Raleigh is part of my old stompin' grounds. Chapel Hill, don't ya know.

Best,
Jim H.

[Jimmy Beck]

Come on now, think of the possibilities: Imagine Mary Gaitskill or Robert Coover describing in exquisite detail the various stains smeared across all that Corinthian leather.

[Jimmy Beck]

Come on now, think of the possibilities: Imagine Mary Gaitskill or Robert Coover describing in exquisite detail the various stains smeared across all that Corinthian leather.

[REllis]

I hate it. I hate car commercials ruining perfectly good songs but I especially hate writers whoring out for product manufacturers. It's not like the writers they're asking are the poor ones, anyway.

Lexus!! Geez.