Cello, Again, Cello

Have you noticed the recent surge in cello music in commercials?  Facebook is the most recent offender — their video explaining their new “Messages” feature sounds disappointingly similar to several other spots currently on the air and online.  Here’s just a mere smattering of similar-sounding background music which, to me, makes every ad blend together into a meaningless din, starting with the aforementioned Facebook:

The last two examples even use the same piece.  Granted, the dog food ad was from a few years ago, but nevertheless… Is that the ONLY piece of music that could fit either of those spots?

When preparing to produce an ad, I’ve had more than one client tell me, “We love the _______ commercial.  Can you do something like that?”

Well, yeah, I can.  But as a business trying to gain market share from competitors, why would you want that?  Don’t you want something that reminds prospective customers of YOU, instead of somebody else?

Funny thing is, now that I’ve pointed out these, I betcha you see/hear “cello spots” all over the place.  I know I’ve missed a bunch.  Please feel free to share the ones you find in the comments below.

Next week, we’ll tackle ukulele spots.