American Idol Ford Commercial

I normally try to leave the American Idol commenting to J-Red and Jeremy (not that I don't watch Idol, I just don't normally have a whole lot to say about it), but I had to say something about one of the commercials tonight.

Every week Ford films a commercial with the remaining contestants singing a song, mugging for the camera, and driving a Ford. It's campy and cheesy and exactly what you'd expect from an American car company trying to reach a younger audience.

This week, however, the song the contestants sang for the Ford commercial was Modest Mouse's Float On. For some reason, that cracked me up. Modest Mouse used to be a relatively obscure indie band. Their fans were the kind of people who are cool because they like bands you've never heard of. In 2004, they became mainstream successful, no doubt pissing off a large portion of their hipster fan base.

The indignity of liking a band with a chart topping modern rock hit is nothing compared to what happened tonight. I can just imagine a Modest Mouse fan (who liked them before they were cool, goddammit!!!!) sitting at home and channel surfing (because they would never actually watch Idol) and coming across the Idol contestants riding around in a Ford singing Float On. It makes me giggle just thinking about it. Do these look like the sort of guys who would be happy selling out to Ford?