Long before I was old enough to have heard of The Who or appreciate their music, I was very familiar with one of their best-known songs (Summertime Blues, which I realise is actually an Eddie Cochran song from the 1950s that they covered but their version was the first I heard, so it’ll always be a Who song to me).
It was all thanks to this week’s classic advert, for Lipsmackin’, thirst-quenchin’… Pepsi Cola.
It seemed to air a lot back in the the mid 70s, an era before Pepsi adverts turned into cheesy, big-bucks, mutual marketing gimmicks showcasing the latest hot pop stars.
It combines visuals that reinforced the 1950s nostalgia (a la the 1973 George Lucas movie American Graffiti and the TV show Happy Days, which began in 1974) with a customised version of Summertime Blues into one of the TV ads I remember most vividly from my childhood.
