Idolator

Speaking of LeBron James, he's apparently the latest person charged with encouraging people to care about Nicole Scherzinger again. The two appear in a (nearly four-minute!) Nike ad that's supposed to be "funny," I guess, since instead of diamonds La Scherz gets all hot and bothered when her man presents her with a pair of self-branded kicks. But it just made me think about how the Pussycat Dolls' brand of sexiness has flipped up on itself and turned into this sort of inverted camp at this point, and how Scherzinger's "turned-on" persona, which I guess still sort of works as far as titillating some people (maybe?), could probably be flipped on with an item as mundane as a jar of mustard if the price was right. [YouTube via Cajun Boy In The City]

The above ad for the NBA playoffs features "House Of Cards" from Radiohead's In Rainbows, a bit of licensing that, according to the eagle-eared blogger at Songs For Soap, may be the first time the band's licensed its music for ad markets in the US. Perhaps the fact that Steve Nash of the recently eliminated Suns was in this particular ad helped Thom & Co. warm up to licensing the track to the NBA? In 2002, he told ESPN The Magazine, "But you know, what's so great about them is that you can interpret the lyrics any way you feel.... I love Radiohead. They're really clever guys. And the music itself is just excellent." I wonder if he bought the In Rainbows discbox! After the jump, another ad, which brings together LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, and "Water From The Same Source" by the incredible string ensemble Rachel's. More »