I didn't even realize the guy was dead.
******Copywriting******
By IAN RANDALL FOR MAILONLINE
Why listening to Bach makes you spend MORE: Classical composer's music provides 'a sound of reassurance' on ads, expert claims
Musicologist Peter Kupfer studied how Bach was used in TV ads from 2009–19
Like other classical pieces, Bach's works are often used to signify prestige
But the German composer's works are primarily used to reassure the consumer
There is, however, nothing inherently reassuring about Bach's compositions
Rather, the expert said, their abstractness lets them embody different messages
The works of the Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach are used by advertisers to provide 'a sound of reassurance' in television commercials, research has claimed.
Musicologist Peter Kupfer of the Southern Methodist University in Texas studied the context in which Bach was used in 19 adverts that aired in the US from 2009–19.
As with other classical pieces, he noted, Bach's compositions are also used as signifiers of prestige or class — or employed for humorous effect.
However, the most common feeling it is used to foster is that of a 'reassurance that one's product choices will lead to happier, healthier and safer lives.'
For example, a 2012 advert starring Peanuts' Schroeder links the pianist's growing confidence as he plays Bach with the anxiety-easing of MetLife's financial planning.
Despite this, however, Professor Kupfer says that there is nothing actually inherently reassuring about Bach's works.
Rather, he concludes, their typically abstract nature and general associations with prestige allow them to embody different messages and connotations as needed.
The works of the Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach are used by advertisers to provide 'a sound of reassurance' in television commercials, research has claimed. Pictured: J. S. Bach at the organ, as depicted in this painting by an unknown artist from 1725
The works of the Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach are used by advertisers to provide 'a sound of reassurance' in television commercials, research has claimed. Pictured: J. S. Bach at the organ, as depicted in this painting by an unknown artist from 1725
ADVERTS USING BACH
Professor Kupfer has compiled a list of 251 adverts featuring classical music that aired on US TV from 2009–2019.
These included commercials from the following brands:
American Express
Allstate Insurance
Cadillac
Healthy Choice
La-Z-Boy
M&M's
Papa Murphy's Pizza
Time Warner Cable
United States Golf Association
However, the musicologist noted, the proportion of adverts using Bach is miniscule. In fact, he identified just 19 — among hundreds of thousands — over a ten-year-period.
'J. S. Bach is a particularly interesting case, for he is, along with Vivaldi and Handel, one of a few baroque composers whose music regularly appears in commercials,' Professor Kupfer wrote in his 2019 paper.
'More importantly, Bach has in the popular consciousness become a symbol, if not the symbol, of 'pure', logical music, unmitigated by worldly concerns.'
This is particularly so, he argues, for the composer's 'abstract', secular instrumental music — 'the style of his that is used most often in television commercials, in part because it is the one with which creative directors are most likely to be familiar.'
In his study, Professor Kupfer reviewed the context in which Bach's works were used in television commercials and developed a taxonomy to describe such.
For this analysis, the expert consulted a database of the appearances of classical music in US commercials that he has been compiling since 2009.
This included a total of 19 adverts employing pieces by Bach.
Among the commercials examined were a 2009 one for the American Express Charge Card featuring the Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G major and a 2010 Allstate Insurance advert with the Prelude in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier.
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Professor Kupfer concluded that Bach's works — specifically those in the solo–prelude style — are most commonly presented alongside messages of reassurance.
(A prelude is a short piece of music, typically containing recurring rhythmic and melodic motifs, which during the Baroque period would have been used to introduce subsequent movements of greater length and complexity.)
Like other classical pieces, however, Bach was also found to be used to invoke associations with prestige (such as in a 2016 Cadillac commercial, in which a driver's ability to name the Cello Suite No. 1 is used as a class signifier) as well as humour.
Musicologist Peter Kupfer of the Southern Methodist University in Texas concluded that Bach's works — specifically those in the solo–prelude style — are most commonly presented alongside messages of reassurance.
Musicologist Peter Kupfer of the Southern Methodist University in Texas concluded that Bach's works — specifically those in the solo–prelude style — are most commonly presented alongside messages of reassurance. Pictured: musical notation of a Bach piece
According to Professor Kupfer, the use of Bach in commercials is linked to the broad trend that has seen advertising move away from traditional 'informational' adverts, which emphasise factual product benefits, to so-called 'transformational' adverts
**********I play a few pieces by JSB - solo preludes. I've changed some of the pieces to a different piece.*******************
