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The Rolling Stones' Cereal Commercial
It’s a sad but undeniable fact of life that the biggest rock and roll icons sell out every now and then. Elvis joined the army, Cream recorded a radio advertisement for Falstaff beer, and Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” was used in car commercials. Even The Rolling Stones sold out. True to their nature as breakers of all rules great and small, when The Rolling Stones sold out, they did so in as ridiculous a way as possible.
In 1964, The Rolling Stones made a commercial for Rice Krispies breakfast cereal.
As commercials for breakfast cereals go, it’s hard to beat the surreal hilarity of kids losing their minds and grown-ups making angry faces over the snap, crackle, and pop of rice-based food product. While the Stones don’t physically appear in the ad, their signature grungy take on American blues is unmistakable, as is Mick Jagger‘s groovy vocalizations and trademark swagger.
For a bizarre and wholesome snapshot of rock and roll’s inability to be separated from the iron grip of capitalism, this commercial is proof that the latter has been choking the life out of the former since the dawn of time. Still, The Rolling Stones are no less iconic now than they ever were. Maybe there’s nothing inherently wrong with selling out just a little tiny bit.
Maybe Rice Krispies are Keith’s secret to immortality! The Stones should record a new commercial for the breakfast cereal. After all, there’s got to be some trick to Mick’s impossible stamina on stage (and, presumably, in bed). And Keith, by all accounts, should have been dead and buried decades ago. Just imagine if he looked straight into a camera and said, “What’s my secret? It’s the Rice Krispies, mate.”
You’d go out and buy a box right now, and you know it. We would, and we wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it!
