Snap, crackle and pop stars
QUESTION Did the Rolling Stones do an advert for Rice Krispies? What other household items have been promoted by pop stars?
YES, the Rolling Stones provided an original song for a Kellogg’s Rice Krispies advert. The 1964 ad featured a parody of the music panel show Juke Box Jury, as the jurors pressed a button revealing the words Snap, Crackle and Pop.
The advert did not feature the band in person, but they provided the jingle, with Mick Jagger belting out the lyrics: ‘ Wake up in the morning there’s a snap around the place Wake up in the morning there’s a crackle in your face Wake up in the morning there’s a pop that really says Rice Krispies for you and you and you.’
Stones’ guitarist Brian Jones co-wrote the jingle with help from the J. Walter Thompson ad agency.
After the ad aired, when the Stones played the Brighton Hippodrome on Sunday, July 19, 1964, fans smuggled in Rice Krispies to throw at them.
Pete Avery, Malvern, Worcs.
OnE of the most surprising commericals was Bob Dylan’s 2004 Angels in Venice advert for Victoria’s Secret lingerie. It features the ageing rocker wandering around a marble palace, with a semi-clad model gyrating to his song Love Sick.
We had been warned! In a press conference in 1965, Dylan was asked: ‘If you were going to sell out to a commercial interest, which one would you do?’ He replied: ‘Ladies undergarments.’
Another strange advert was uber-cool Blondie singer Debbie Harry dancing around the house while cooking up a loaf of Sara Lee French bread in 1987.
Lots of old punks choked on their toast in 2008 when faced with the sight of Sex Pistols front man Johnny Rotten wrapped in a Union Jack, advertising Country Life butter.
An advert with amusing consequences was Iggy Pop’s 2009 Swiftcover car insurance commercial. The Advertising Standards Agency banned the ad because Swiftcover excluded people in the entertainment industry.
Janet Thompson, Newcastle upon Tyne.
QUESTION What is free with regard to pubs described as free houses?
UP UnTIL the 17th century, all public houses, inns and taverns brewed their own ale and, therefore, were free houses. It is rare to find a genuinely free house today.
In time, it made sense for pubs in a village or town to be supplied by a common brewer. Eventually, breweries began to buy up premises and supply their own beer, allowing publicans to lease the property.
This saved many from going under in times of economic hardship.
By the 20th century, the majority of pubs were tied, which meant they were required to sell the brewery’s products.
In the latter part of the 20th century, a great number of pubs came under the ownership of pub company conglomerates with no tie to a particular brewery.
Such pubs, for example those in the J D Wetherspoon chain, are sometimes called ‘free houses’, but they are not truly independent.
James Gilligan, Cheltenham, Glos.
QUESTION What’s the origin of ‘ruthless’? Where would we be without ruth?
THE name Ruth and the term ruthless are not linguistically connected.
Ruth was a common word in Middle English, derived from the 12th century
routhe or reuthe, meaning pity, sympathy or compassion.
It’s derived from the verb rue, which came from the Old English hreowan, meaning to afflict with sorrow, pity or regret. Possibly rooted in old norse, it is still used in the phrase ‘I’ll rue the day’.
It features in this 13th-century lament about the death of a child: ‘ Why have ye no routhe on my child? Have routhe on me ful of mourning;
Tak doun o rode, my derworth child, Or prik me o rode with my derling! More pine ne may me ben y-don Than lete me live in sorwe and shame; As love me bindeth to my sone, So let us deyen bothe y-same.’
It translates as:
Why do you not have sympathy for
my child? Have sympathy on me, full of mourning Taken down the road, my precious child Take me down the road with my darling I have never wanted anything as much I live in sorrow and shame I still have love to my bones And because of that I am dying like
my child.
From the 13th century, a compassionate person was known as one who was ‘ruthful’. Since the early 14th century, a person who lacked compassion, who would cast others aside for personal gain, has been known as ruthless, meaning lacking the quality of ruth.
The name Ruth has a separate etymology. It is of Hebrew origin and one theory is that it is derived from the root ra’a’ and might mean lady friend or companion.
Because Ruth, the eponymous heroine from the Old Testament, showed compassion for her mother-in-law naomi, it became a popular name with Puritans, who linked the two words.
This strict Protestant sect did not favour Biblical names, but they made an exception for Ruth as it could be interpreted as a virtue name, representing values we should embody or aspire to.
Sheila Appleby, Ludlow, Shropshire.
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