Or Did They?

I've always ranked Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" as one of the all-time great rock songs. As a kid, I loved it before I even knew what it was (and although I knew fairly early on that it was by Cream, I called it by the wrong name for a number of years, until my cousin helpfully set me straight). But lately, it's been getting on my nerves. It provides the soundtrack (and although none of the vocals are featured, it sounds like the authentic Cream version) to a horrible commercial for a hair dye, Touch of Gray. I'm fine if people want to color their hair--what do I care when it comes down to it? People, especially as they're aging, should do whatever helps them feel comfortable (although I'm not as complacent when it starts edging toward major surgery). What bugs me about this commercial is its attitude. The opening line is: "The generation that swore it would never get old . . . didn't." Typical Boomer delusion. Of course they didn't get old. That's why they've got to color all the gray hair they don't have.

I don't know why this particular commercial annoys me so much, because it's not particularly worse than any other commercial out there. I've gotten used to pop songs being coopted by advertising, and it's not like they weren't being used for commerce when they were originally released. But maybe this is just an instance of a particularly beloved song being used for a particularly annoying Boomer trait.