Of Dodges, Deodorant, and “Die Forelle”

Screen shot 2015-03-24 at 9.31.40 PMThe other night, I was watching TV when a commercial came on for the new Dodge Challenger. As the proud new owner of a 2015 Honda Fit, I don’t pay too much attention to car commercials these days, but perked up when the advertisement began to deviate from the usual new-car-driving-through-CGI-landscapes variety. In the commercial, which you can view online here, the driver of the Challenger is pulled over by a tough-looking cop and his partner, a talking monkey whom I can only describe as a stuffed, life-size version of Curious George.

 “Do you know how fast you were going?” the officer barks at the confused driver. “20 in a 45! It’s a Dodge Challenger, it’s a gross misuse of power!”

 “You got passed by a Passat!” the monkey exclaims in exasperation.

 “It–won’t happen again?” the driver stutters.

 “Better not, with that available 485 Horsepower HEMI-V8!” the monkey says threateningly.

 Suddenly, the sweet strains of string playing begin to emanate from the car radio. Sure enough, we see from the display screen that it is indeed Schubert’s “Trout Quintet” (or “Die Forelle,” in the original German), Op. 114 in A Major.

 “Is that chamber music?!” the cop exclaims.

 “Yeah,” the driver sheepishly admits.

 Monkey shakes his head in disgust.

 “Get out of the car!”

 The next shot shows the cop and monkey high-fiving in a parking lot, having evidently arrested the driver for this most egregious of crimes. A final voiceover has the last word: “There are some things you just don’t do in a Dodge.”

 Now, I understand why the writers of the commercial used classical music to convey the nerdiness of the driver–in advertising, you have to use stereotypes to ensure a diverse audience will get your message–and I do appreciate that they got the opus number and key right for the Schubert (something you don’t always see in these types of ads!). Actually, I don’t have a problem with the commercial at all; I just have a problem with the fact that classical music is stereotyped as this nerdy, uncool activity. Of course, the existence of this stereotype is not news to me, but seeing it played out in such blatant fashion was an uneasy reminder of the challenges we still face in relating to the general populace, let alone Officer Rawlings (his real character name, according to YouTube) and his pedal-happy talking monkey.

Not long after I saw the Dodge commercial, I was watching an online video when a commercial came on for the new Axe Dry Spray deodorant. I’m not exactly a fan of deodorant ads, but seeing as the “skip to content” tab was missing from this particular video, I reluctantly continued to watch. Suddenly, the lush sound of strings caught my ear–the ad’s soundtrack was none other than that same movement of the “Trout” Quintet! Who could have guessed?? I watched on in bemusement as the (shirtless) actor demonstrated the distinct difference between Axe Dry Spray and regular Axe, all to the accompaniment of Schubert’s famous melody. Now, you might think this represents a real victory for us classical proponents–tough guys and athletes wear Axe, so if they’re listening to classical music, we’ve definitely made progress…right? Not so fast. The guy in the commercial is dressed in a formal, gray button-down (before it suddenly vanishes halfway through) and sports an elegant black beard. Furthermore, the commercial’s narration is delivered by a cool, female voice reeking of high society. Thus, it doesn’t take an advertising guru to guess what the ultimate message is: using the new dry spray will allow you to maintain a formal, pristine appearance and avoid embarrassing underarm blotches even if the radiator is on at your work party. And what better to convey this sense of formality than chamber music?

As that is about all of the verbiage I feel it is appropriate to afford an analyzation of a deodorant commercial, I’ll stop here, but I think the main takeaways from these two very different (yet musically-related) ads are clear:

1) when we observe a change in the stereotypes surrounding classical music, as evidenced in such cultural artifacts as TV commercials, we’ll really know something has changed (a change that is very possible, and most definitely worthy of pursuit);

and
2) never wear Axe Dry Spray and listen to the “Trout” Quintet in a Dodge Challenger unless you want to be arrested by Curious George.

About the author

Zachary Preucil
Zachary Preucil

Zachary Preucil enjoys a varied career as cellist, educator, and writer. Currently, he serves on the faculties of the Music Institute of Chicago and the Music for Youth Suzuki program in Arlington Heights, IL, in addition to maintaining a private studio in the Chicago area and coaching chamber music for the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra. Previously, he served on the faculty of the Kanack School of Music in Rochester, NY, and as a teaching assistant at the Eastman School of Music.

Zachary received his M.M. in Cello Performance and Literature and an Arts Leadership Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he was inducted into the Beta Pi chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda. He received his B.M. in Cello Performance with Academic Honors from the New England Conservatory of Music in May 2012. Zachary's primary teachers have included David Ying, Yeesun Kim, and his father, Walter Preucil; additionally, he has studied chamber music with members of the Borromeo and Ying Quartets. He has also studied at several summer music festivals and institutes, including the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine, the Castleman Quartet Program in New York and the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. In recent summers, he has performed with the Midsummer's Music Festival in Wisconsin and the Caroga Lake Music Festival in New York. In June 2014, Zachary made his solo debut with the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra in Chicago's Orchestra Hall.

As a writer, Zachary has served as a co-editor of "The Penguin", New England Conservatory's student-run newspaper, and has blogged for Polyphonic On Campus since 2012. Recently, his work has also been featured on the Chicago Cello Society blog, the Huffington Post Arts blog, and the blog of the CREDO Music Festival. Along with flutist Elizabeth Erenberg, he is a co-founder of Musicovation.com, a multifaceted website dedicated to promoting the latest positive and innovative trends in the music world.

One Comment

  • Happened upon this post after seeing that Axe ad on late night TV and googling “Schubert in an Axe commercial.” It was, indeed, a very small moment of delight, hearing strains of one of my favorite pieces of music in the world emanating from that ad on TV (and that was not many minutes after the longer moment of delight, hearing and seeing Kendrick Lamar and crew perform “To Pimp a Butterfly” on the Late Show; a night of unusual music on network TV).

    Anyway, the best thing working towards changes in the stereotype you reference, in my neighborhood (Dallas-Ft. Worth area), is a group called Open Classical. Check them out here: http://www.openclassical.org/