Chris Brown Would Like To Double Your Pleasure Against Your Will
This morning, as I was trying to will myself out of bed, I heard Chris Brown’s “Forever,” which is currently the No. 3 song in the country and which has a nicely airy constitution for something that you’re going to hear intermingled with those last-moments-of-sleep dreams about work. Little did I know that what I was actually listening to was an extended remix of the newest ad for Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum, a factoid that the chewing gum’s parent company will officially announce tomorrow, when it unveils ad campaigns featuring Brown (for Doublemint), Ne-Yo (for Big Red), and Julianne Hough (for Juicy Fruit). It’s all part of an effort to make boring old stick gum relevant in a world of ice-blasting Chiclet knockoffs.
In case you haven’t yet heard “Forever,” here it is:
Note the use of “double your pleasure, double your fun” in the chorus. Hands up if, like me, you just thought that the use of said phrase was another example of culture in 2008 incessantly borrowing from itself! Instead, it was all part of a secret plan to indoctrinate the youth!
Mr. Brown was commissioned to write and sing both the pop song and a new version of the Doublemint jingle, introduced in 1960.
First, Mr. Brown updated the jingle and recorded it with hip-hop producer Polow Da Don. Then, during the same Los Angeles recording sessions in February, paid for by Wrigley, Mr. Brown added new lyrics and made a 4½-minute rendition of the tune, titled “Forever.”
In April, Mr. Brown’s record label, Jive, released the song to radio stations and digital download services as a single. After the song became a hit, Jive added it to his 2007 album, “Exclusive,” and re-released the album in June.
And now the song is a contender for the top spot on the chart, which Wrigley must be thrilled about (although I’m sure that Wrigley’s execs are kicking themselves for not getting current No. 1 Katy Perry to redo the Big Red jingle instead of Ne-Yo). And Brown must be thrilled, too, since the speedy way in which he wrote both tracks has jacked up his hourly rate for songwriting:
Mr. Brown said in an email that he wrote “Forever” and the related jingle in about 30 minutes each. “I actually thought it would take longer to write a jingle they would like,” he wrote. “But they said it was a perfect fit after the first try.”
Take note, Rihanna–you probably got the Brown-assisted “Disturbia” at a bargain-basement price!
Chew On This: Hit Song Is A Gum Jingle [WSJ] Chris Brown – Forever [Dailymotion]
