Gawker
Opening with the now-famous Valleywag story of Kevin Colvin, the banking intern who ran off to party in a fairy costume (he told his boss there was a family emergency, but got outed via Facebook!), Radar hates on Millennials, those born between 1982 and 2002. It isn't fair: the Boomers always hated the slacker, Dazed and Confused-watching Gen Xers, and are retaliating by coddling Millennials at work, falling all over themselves, wanting to help their younger colleagues who "roll into work with their iPods and flip-flops around noon." These brats "think updating a spreadsheet while simultaneously posting to a Twitter account about the latest gossip on perezhilton.com is an essential corporate skill." They bring up 9-11 "should you question their fortitude." But their most egregious sin?
Today, when a hip band allows Outback Steakhouse to co-opt one of their most beloved songs, Millennials don't call it selling out. It's a cogent business decision. To Millennials, it's perfectly acceptable to transform the lyric "Let's pretend we don't exist / Let's pretend we're in Antarctica" into the jingle "Let's go Outback tonight / Life will still be there tomorrow." (Et tu, Of Montreal.)I personally feel the below commercial is unforgivable, but perhaps it's because I was born in 1981 instead of 1982—I'll never understand the value of a corporate dollar.
Generation Slap [Radar]
Comments
It is way too early to be talking about this. We still haven't eradicated the baby boomers.
I never knew that the Outback song was originally a hipster song. I just thought it was a wonderful song about eating meat.
I'm old.
I still have not gotten over The Who's first car commercial.
huh, what? I had my Ipod on while I was facebook stalking my ex.
@kathotdog: If we run out of meat we can always eat the Millennials.
Um, no that still is selling out. But what do I know, I had no idea that was Of Montreal, I just thought it was a really annoying jingle. Does that void my Millenial card?
@moff: Seriously. We can all agree they were the worst.
Although, to me at least, it always seemed that people who graduated college around 1994 - 1997 existed in a pretty lame time period.
I am one of them, and I hate them. I hate myself.
World continues to change, story at 11.
@moff: Did you see that age range? Your dating pool is now generationally justifiable.
Lovely Lady Lumps selling Ruth's Chris.
Yeah, we Gen-Xers have a slightly different take on selling out. Just ask Jello Biafra.
I got yelled at for being 10 minutes late for a meeting today. And I'm wearing dress shoes. Apparently no coddling to be found here.
This is preposterous! Have we all forgotten the tragedy of 9/11?! I am outraged at this article's insensitivity to the existential burden we Millennials bear. I would rant further, but my iPod is done charging and I need to go to work.*
*Seriously.
As annoying as children are, six-year-olds probably don't deserve our hatred yet.
Also, GET OFF MY LAWN.
Yeah, but Millenials hate the crap out of people born since 2003.
HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY YOU SELF-INVOLVED LITTLE SHIT.
The Dandy Warhols selling "Bohemian Like Me" to Volkswagen (I think?) won them a whole new sea of fans, however, so I'm not going to judge a band too harshly for trying to find new listeners whatever way they can. Changing the lyrics, though? That just seems wrong.
@DavidWatts: Don't you mean "World continues to change, story at 11...WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"
MTV was waaay better for gen-xers. Or does everybody hate it now?
I couldn't agree more. Although, in all fairness, didn't Boomer-era bands really start selling out first: Rolling Stones/ Microsoft Windows?
What exactly did 9/11 make Millennials endure?
I was slightly dismayed when the Meat Puppets tried to give me a lapdance at Hooters.
@TheHonJudgeSmails: Totally! I was in middle school then, and even *I* knew it was lame.
@nozzle: The End of Irony or some shit.
Not only do I find it unacceptable but pieces of my 1983 punk kid wandering St. Marks Street teenage self died when:
Lust for Life was used to sell cruises
Should I Stay or Should I Go was used to sell jeans
Blitzkreig Bop was used to sell Diet Pepsi
Perfect Day was used for the NFL Super Bowl
But seriously? Outback's lyrics make a lot more sense.
December 1981. Phew. This means I can continue to not have a myspace account, right?
@flossy:
My, you post so quickly!
Although I have to be at work at 8:30, I STILL wear flip flops and refuse to wear anything that needs to be ironed. Do I count?
I almost bit my tongue when I heard Twisted Sister's 'We're Not Going to Take It' being used for the Birth Control Pill Yaz.
[www.yaz-us.com]
Wait, isn't this the exact same thing that was said about Gen-X, only with Pearl Jam, flannel and Donkey Kong?
@nozzle: Extra day off from high school?
His last point is true. For the most part, the guiding influences of the baby boomers were not part of that generation.
I resent being lumped in with people who I babysat while I was in college. Their diapers were extra stinky, and I'm sure mine were never that bad. Kids today!
And for the record, I haven't experienced any of this "coddling" from the Boomers. Unless that's code for raising the rent.
But there are virtually no Boomers where I work. Where I work I am a dinosaur. *sings to the tune of "Tradition" from Fiddler On the Roof* Depresssssiooooooooon! Depression! dum da dum DePresSion.
Why would you bring up 9/11 if someone questioned your fortitude?
The most recent sell-out example is Chris Knox to Heineken:
+ Watch video
@Trixie from Toronto: that song has been used for everything and anything anyone is trying to sell/mtv "doc/rockumentaries". They either sold the rights to someone else and said someone is pimping it out like ashley dupre or the DWs are making bank off it. either way, capitalism! yay!
@TheHonJudgeSmails: True. In my opinion, if you wanted to be awesome, you should have graduated from college around 1998 or 1999. I present myself as evidence.
@Conbon: It's always been justifiable. Just not in this repressive, "finishing high school is more important than dating men in their early 30s" culture.
@Dickens_Ghost:
I remember first seeing the cruise commercials waiting for the junkies to appear. But junkies don't take cruises, do they?
@Mediahohoho: Oops. Sorry. I meant The Lemonheads.
to be fair, even the older milleni..whatever is 25, the youngest 6. so if 6 years old come to my job in flip flops and updates my spreadsheets i'm whatever with that. even if they wear an ipod while they do it.
One year too late myself!
Thank the Lors sweet baby Jesus.
Sheesh... these kids today.
@Zorica: Best Buy?
Can the kids born in 2002 remind people they were in utero during 9/11 when their fortitude is questioned?
@luciluce666: You're 5?
@moff: gosh darn you over 30s! I will be with you soon.
Secondly, I'd like to say I gave up TV specifically because commercials were raping my brain and ruining some of my favorite songs forevermore with images of shitty cars and soft drinks and other crap that has nothing to do with once good music.
And... Dazed and Confused freakin RULES!!!
If by "junkie" you mean 58 year old women from Indianola hooked on Oxycontin for their arthritis, then, some do.
I didn't understand that commercial at all. But then again, I don't speak Australian.
@HeyThatsMyBike: When the third eye pops (on those mutants gestated in Manhattan) the light will be shed.
@BullfightsOnAcid: Yeah but Bad Brains' 'Pay to cum' for cialis? Perfect