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The White Stripes cannot have been amused when eBay decided to use Patti Page’s “Conquest” for a recent commercial involving a group of potential bidders racing down a dog track for an item. The band’s newest single is, yep, a cover of Page’s “Conquest,” which makes them look like opportunists — hey, look at us, we’re covering that wacky song from the eBay commercial! — but I think it is in fact eBay’s ad agency doing the, um, opportuning. I’m willing to wager that someone in the creative department was listening to Icky Thump, heard the White Stripes’ version of the song and thought, “We totally have to get this.” Regardless, the Whites came up with an obvious but amusing video for the song, featuring Jack as a matador who just can’t bring himself to finish the job. He even trained with matadors to make it look authentic. Ah, the life of a rock star. “What are you doing today?” “Working with a matador.” Don’t let Us Weekly fool you: stars are not just like us.
Filed under: Rock and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and External Music and Seen Your Video Comments:
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The first time I saw the commercial I thought it was the Stripes…it took me 10 listens to realize it wasn’t old Jack White. GUess that notifies the world that we have a crap-ass old lo-def TV with tiny speakers and not a hip-n-cool home theater with the hi-def.
My theory, completely unsubstantiated: The admen, as D-Med theorizes, liked White Stripes. Went to the Stripes or label and said “yo, this is great. Want some free pub? Let us use your recording!” Stripes or label said either “F you,” or perhaps “Give us XX thousand dollars and have fun!” and the admen balked, having Patti Page in their back pocket for about $37.50 to ASCAP and whoever else controls the rights that particular recording.
But I thought the same thing: It’s incongruous that the Stripes just covered this tune on the new album and yet the commercial features ye olde ancient version. Something smells funny.