American Shill

I am now officially sick and tired of the Ford commercial featuring Taylor Hicks singing about the "Possibilities" of buying a Ford. Hicks owes his career to the corporate interests who package that fluff known as "American Idol" in such a way as to extract as much money as possible from the brainwashed teeny-bopper masses. Hicks, while talented, would be nothing without the good folks at Ford, Coca-Cola, Cingular, and BMG who have devised a foolproof way to find America's next pop music goldmine by throwing a whole bunch of contenders at the American public for four months and seeing who sticks once all is said and done, while simultaneously force-feeding their products down the throats of the mass market for 90 minutes each week.

Look at the corporate doublespeak in Ford's press release trying to downplay Hicks' sell-out by making it sound like he's doing Ford a favor:
“Taylor Hicks is living the American dream and we’re excited to be a part of his journey to stardom,” said John Felice, Ford brand general marketing manager. “It’s a bold move to audition for American Idol and it takes talent, hard work and confidence to win. That’s why Taylor is such a great fit for Ford.”

I didn't think Hicks would have to pay the piper quite so soon, but then again, each Idol results show involves the contestants performing a song while driving down the street in their (surprise!) Ford. Do you hear that whooshing sound? That's corporate America sucking dry yet another of the precious few remaining vestiges of independent thought. Why should we waste energy deciding what car we want to buy when American Idol can do it for us?