Under the capitalistic control of the music industry, sometimes bands (or their legacies) get roped into, er, crappy deals—like the controversial Beatles commercial that “corrupted” some fans’ opinions of one of their most iconic tracks, “All You Need Is Love.”
The ad in question first aired in 2007, drawing outrage from Fab Four fans and anti-war activists alike. The consumers of said commercialized product didn’t have much to say on the matter, but of course, most of them didn’t know how to talk yet.
The Beatles Commercial That “Corrupted” Their Music
Four decades after the Beatles released their decade-defining track “All You Need Is Love” in 1967, Procter & Gamble bought the rights to the song from Sony/ATV Music. The company used the song in an advertisement for their diaper brand, Luvs, playing off the Beatles’ song title with, you guessed it, the tagline, “All you need is Luvs.”
“Classic songs have been used for some time to connect with the consumer and drive emotion for a product or brand,” P&G baby care spokeswoman Lisa Jester said in a public statement (via Ocala StarBanner). “Music has a way of connecting us, making us smile.” Many Beatles fans, however, were doing more grimacing than smiling after watching the ad.
“All you need is Luvs? Pleeeeeease,” one Fab Four fan wrote online (via CBC). “For me, it corrupts and contaminates the memories I have,” added WZLX DJ Cha-Chi Loprete. “John Lennon must be rolling over in his grave.” The surviving members of the Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, made no comments on the matter.
Even if the musicians did have something to say, they would have had no legal power over P&G’s use of their 1967 hit. Sony/ATV Music Publishing was the sole owner of the track’s rights at the time of the licensing, and they didn’t need permission from any member of the Fab Four or their estates to go through with the divisive sale.
How Luvs Sparked Outrage From Anti-War Activists
The infantile repurposing of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” isn’t all that angered fans. (After all, every member of the Fab Four was once in diapers—so the product, though irksome, wasn’t the real issue.) For many television audiences, they were most perturbed by the fact that the Beatles wrote their enduring track as an anti-war statement, which made P&G’s use of the song even more controversial.
“For people who feel that political connection, it comes off as kind of a callous action,” AdRants.com co-editor Angela Natividad said of the commercial (via Ocala StarBanner). “You’ve got the Beatles, which draws, like, religious feelings, and you’ve got the war.” Natividad was referencing the then-ongoing Iraq War, which was in its fourth year when Procter & Gamble aired their Luvs commercial.
“All You Need Is Love” became a defining song of the Summer of Love, a period of time that marked a strong anti-war movement in response to the Vietnam War. To co-opt the song for a diaper commercial in the middle of yet another war, some angry fans argued, belittled the Beatles’ original intent of their song.
And indeed, it’s impossible to say whether any Beatle—particularly John Lennon, who wrote the song—could have foreseen “All You Need Is Love” playing over a controversial diaper commercial when they debuted the song on the world’s first international television broadcast, Our World. But as the old saying goes, s***happens.
