Chris Brown has the number three single on BillboardMagazine‘s Hot 100 with “Forever.” If the lyric “‘Cause we only got one night/double your pleasure/double your fun,” sounds familiar, it’s no coincidence. The line is actually a well-placed shout-out to the song’s sponsor, the William Wrigley Jr. Company.
The Wall St. Journal reports Translation Advertising, the consulting and branding firm run by Jay-Z and Steve Stoute, was hired to update Wrigley‘s well-known slogans. Brown‘s “Forever” serves as a commercial for Doublemint chewing gum. Brown and multi-platinum producer Polow Da Don updated the original Doublemint jingle in February during a studio session paid for by Wrigley. Brown later changed some of the lyrics, rechristened it as “Forever” and Jive serviced the single to radio and digital formats.
“By the time the new jingle came out, it was already seeded properly within popular culture,” Stoute tells the Wall St. Journal.
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During a press conference Tuesday, representatives from Translation and Wrigley will announce that the song is actually a commercial. Spots from R&B singer Ne-Yo, who is rumored to be remaking Big Red‘s “Kiss A Little Longer” jingle, and Country crooner Julianne Hough will also be unveiled.
The move represents a growing trend as entertainers from all genres attempt to curb paltry physical sales. Swizz Beatz struck a similar deal with Gap last year, and Pharrell Williams lent his signature sound to the Hennessey ad campaign as well. In addition to the revenue they bring in, some commercial jingles have garnered critical acclaim. Last year Nike and Cornerstone Promotions brought Nas, Premiere, Kanye West, Rakim, KRS-One and Rick Rubin together for the Grammy Award winning collaboration “Better Than I’ve Ever Been.”
