Some memes never die, no matter how old they get. CSAA has taken that slogan to heart with their newest commercial involving Rick Astley and his infamous “Rick Roll”! The commercial can be viewed below.
The commercial features Astley almost perfectly recreating his infamous music video, backgrounds and all. These clips are spliced in with Astley giving a performance to a crew of employees at their desks. The chorus lines “never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you” are focused on, cleverly getting the company’s message across. The commercial ends with Astley looking at the music video on his phone and asking, “Is this still a thing?” with the rest of the cast dancing along to the tunes! Astley spoke about the fun of the new campaign.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
The music video commercial also shows employees printing out “Rickified” QR codes that will be featured in AAA locations across the country. Clients who scan the code with their phones will be taken to the commercial/music video, bringing new life into the “Rick Roll” meme. Linda Goldstein, executive vice president, had this to say about the fun campaign.
“Paying homage to my video for the AAA Insurance commercial — from the set to the wardrobe — has been an amazing trip down memory lane. The song has been so good to me, and I’m thrilled to be working with another iconic brand that has certainly stood the test of time.”
Never Gonna Give You Up!
“Never Gonna Give You Up” is Astley’s debut single from 1987 and was an instant hit in the United Kingdom. After its debut, it stayed on the top of the chart for five weeks and went on to become the best-selling single of that year. Even among initial fans, “Never Gonna Give You Up” was Astley’s signature song. But in the early 2000’s, the most unexpected thing happened…
“We are thrilled to partner with Rick Astley to not only revisit the joy of his video, but amplify the incredible value that our customers receive with InsurAAAnce. And clearly, the indelible lyrics of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ are one of the best ways we can share that message.”
Rickrolling is considered to be one of the first internet memes by many. The meme involves the classic bait and switch. Normally, the meme would take the shape of a disguised hyperlink promising something precious to the unsuspecting victim. For example, say you were on a web forum for your favorite show and somebody made a new post. In that post, the user would say something along the lines of “Next episode spoilers! Oh wow I can’t believe this happened!” and then they would post the hyperlink below. You get excited, click the link, then BAM! You’ve been Rickrolled! The meme originated on the 4chan website, with one of the most notorious early examples being a user claiming to have a link to the new Grand Theft Auto game, but pranking their fellow gamers with a Rickroll.
Due to the meme’s harmless, squeaky-clean nature, it’s aged like fine wine among older internet adventurers. Astley himself initially was indifferent to the new trend, unsure of how to react. But eventually, the artist came around to the prank and would play along with the joke. His most famous play-along on the fun was in 2008, when he would make a surprise appearance on Cartoon Network’s Macey’s Day Parade float to Rickroll the world!
