When I was a kid in France, brands and TV channels were competing every year to hammer me and the rest of the population with their own one-hit summer song. I guess that some smart art directors would travel to South America during winter to scout local bands with potential mass-market success and fly them to Europe to record the promising tune in studio, before touring popular cheezy music shows. Oh and just to make sure that you have been exposed to the song, an excerpt of the music video would be broadcasted by the sponsoring TV channel between every single show, every hours or so.

Orangina and TF1 gave us the Lambada in 1989 and sold 3.5 millions albums, France 2 sponsored the Carrapichio; that’s how we over-dosed Los Del Rio’s Macarena, Ricky Martin’s 1-2-3-Maria, Bellini’s Samba De Janeiro, Las Ketchup’s Asereje and so on…

Ten years later, Converse does the same trick, but for hipsters. To celebrate the brand’s Century, they put together the talents of Pharrell Williams, N.E.R.D., Santogold and Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) to create an original track, “My Drive Thru” that you can download for free on the brand’s website. And you should. It is sooooo good that I’VE BEEN PLAYING IT NON-STOP IN THE PAST WEEK. The “Three Artists, One Song” campaign will be promoted through Converse print, outdoor and online advertising and the music video will be released sometime this summer.

Converse has been embraced by an amazingly diverse group of musicians and artists over the years,” said Geoff Cottrill, Chief Marketing Officer of Converse. “As we celebrate the brand’s first century, we thought it would be fun to bring together Pharrell, Santogold, and Julian, to create new music together that bridges the styles they are known for. The results are everything we hoped for and we’re excited to add ‘My Drive Thru’ into the mix of music that fans will listen to this summer. We are also providing a platform for a number of emerging artists from around the world. The music industry is changing and this partnership is about the music and sharing it with fans for free.

And there is probably more to come. When you browse the Converse website, the 3 contemporary geniuses are surrounded by a wider and even edgier selection of emerging musical talent from across the globe, including MGMT, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, YACHT, Kid Sister, Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces, Frank Carter of Gallows; Does It Offend You, Yeah?, and Sophie of Care Bears on Fire.

Converse, you can keep showing me your love anytime, my iPod is begging for more!

I was bitching about Levi’s lame attempt to do some viral marketing recently. I’m glad they proved me wrong with this new video. A pair of jeans, some duct-tape, a bottle of helium gas and a pretty brave actor willing to take off, literally.