Insight: Paws for thought

By Ed Pierce
Managing Editor

I can confirm that I’m officially old after recognizing the tune being used in a television dog food commercial as one that I danced to while attending junior high school.

The Troggs were a British band from the 1960s who had 
huge hits in America with 'Wild Thing,' and 'Love is All
Around.' Their 1966 song "With a Girl Like You' is now
being used in the U.S. in a dog food commercial. 
COURTESY PHOTO 

When I was in eighth grade at Carlton Webster Junior High in Henrietta, New York in the fall of 1966, one of my favorite British bands was called The Troggs. They had huge hits with songs such as “Wild Thing” and “Love is All Around.” I loved their distinct and unique garage band sound which later inspired a generation of punk rockers, but way back then, just a month away from becoming a teenager, I would turn the volume up whenever “With a Girl Like You” came on the radio.

The other night I was watching “Jeopardy” only to find that the 1966 hit song "With a Girl Like You" by The Troggs is now used to pitch a healthy dog food brand called “The Farmer's Dog.”

Somewhere the late Reg Presley, lead singer of The Troggs, who died in 2013, is laughing all the way to the bank. He wrote all the huge hits that The Troggs had and lived long enough to see “Love is All Around” be the basis of the film “Love Actually” and sung in the 2003 film with Christmas-themed lyrics by actor Bill Nighy.

The band’s name, The Troggs, is said to be short for "Troglodytes," or cave dwellers, and reflected their raw, primal caveman rock sound. Presley, whose real name was Reginald Ball, said the name was inspired by a suggestion from their manager and sounded earthy to fit their primitive musical style.

The Troggs were formed in the town of Andover, England in 1964 and its original lineup consisted of Presley, guitarist Chris Britton, drummer Ronnie Bond, and bassist Pete Staples.

Now their upbeat, classic rock track “With a Girl Like You” is the soundtrack for promoting dog food and uses its nostalgic feel-good beat to pitch the product to millions of television viewers who probably never heard the song before. “With a Girl Like You” was written by Presley and was a follow-up to the band’s smash hit “Wild Thing.” It became the group's first and only Number 1 song in Great Britain and ultimately reached Number 29 here in the United States.

Believe it or not, at that school dance I went to in November 1966, I can recall dancing with my classmate Gloria Van Gelder to “With a Girl Like You.” Later that same night, I asked another classmate, Janet McGraw, to dance but instead of a tune by The Troggs, it was a song called “Listen People” by another band from England called Herman’s Hermits.

I told that to Herman’s Hermits’ lead singer Peter Noone when I interviewed him before a concert in Laconia, New Hampshire in 2016 and he said he hears the same thing from people all the time. 1960s music remains wildly popular, and I still listen to it even today.

The Troggs aren’t the first classic rock performers to have had their songs used for commercialized purposes and probably won’t be the last.

Bounce fabric softener has aired televised commercials using “It’s a Beautiful Morning” by The Rascals. Windex continues to use “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash to sell glass cleaner.

AT&T once had a commercial that featured “Sweet Melissa” by the Allman Brothers and another using “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. Kohl’s department store used “Do You Believe in Magic?” by the Lovin’ Spoonful in a commercial and “Strange Magic” by Electric Light Orchestra in another.

The ad agency creating televised spots for Burger King seems to be caught up in the pop music soundtrack craze too. At one time, BK used “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate in a commercial and another time it used “Just the Two of Us” by Bill Withers.

The Rolling Stones had “Like a Rainbow” featured by Apple in a commercial and their “Start Me Up” appeared in a Ford televised advertising campaign.

Chevy Trucks used “Like a Rock” by Bob Seger. Heinz catsup used “Anticipation” by Carly Simon and Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Taking Care of Business” was used by Office Depot.

Swiffer Brooms and Mops is known for using “Who’s That Lady” by the Isley Brothers, Player’s “Baby Come Back” and The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” in commercials for its products. Recent Hyundai car commercials have featured Blondie’s “One Way or Another.”

Songs by The Troggs though have been used for decades in commercials. “Wild Thing” has been used by Pepsi, Bud Light, Miller Beer, Applebees, 7-Up, and Geico Insurance. Geico has also creatively used “I Can’t Control Myself” by The Troggs in a spot plugging motorcycle insurance for viewers.

“Love is All Around” was the musical backdrop for a Gap TV commercial with Orlando Bloom and Kate Beckinsale, directed by Cameron Crowe. It was also showcased in a television commercial for Subaru.

If the purpose of using an old song like “With a Girl Like You” is supposed to evoke nostalgic feelings in me, it worked. Placing a tune like that made me notice the dog food commercial and sing along with it.

Isn’t that an advertiser’s dream? <