Life's an Illusion, Love Is a Dream

Is that a little repositioning I sense in the latest AARP commercial? With Buzzcocks' "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" playing in the background, they're trying to appeal to a new generation. A new generation that's old enough to join the AARP, by the way. Pete Shelley has been old enough for a couple of years. I couldn't find Steve Diggle's birthday from just a bit of Googling, but if he was at least 20 when he first played with the Buzzcocks (and it's quite possible he wasn't), then he's old enough, too.

When I first saw this commercial, there was a disconnect--I couldn't immediately place the buzzsaw guitar, and once I did I thought the commercial was for something else, though I can't remember precisely what at the moment--maybe Target or some other sponsor who's been using upbeat pop tunes lately. When the AARP logo came on at the end, that threw me even more. "This isn't an AARP commercial--it's for Target. Or no, it is AARP."

I guess it makes sense for the AARP to appropriate punk, which is quite a ways in the past at this point. This year is the 32nd anniversary of "Blitzkrieg Bop," and the 31st of "Anarchy in the UK" and "Spiral Scratch." Punks may not want to believe themselves to be of an age to join AARP, but the oldest among them are. (I'm not, by the way--that shouldn't matter, but I feel compelled to mention it.) The leading edge of Generation X is in their 40s, and they've got to feel Generation Y (or whatever they're called) breathing down their necks.

So I'm of two minds. Is the AARP using Buzzcocks an effective method of establishing their continuing relevance or the early evidence that punk is in the early stages of being over the hill? Take a look yourself and see what you think.