What's That Song in the M&M's Commercial?

'This Is the Day,' by The The

What better to compliment the quotidian daily activity of dozens of happy little animated chocolate candies better than this little The The ditty? The answer is nothing. Well, ok, fine, maybe even more colorfully candy-covered chocolate creatures. But other than that, nothing.

Recorded with Orange Juice's Zeke Manyika, 'This Is the Day' was the first single and shining international hit off the Matt Johnson-fronted band's debut album, 1983's synth-pop opus 'Soul Mining.' The song marked a departure for Johnson, whose previous solo work was darker, or in his words, simply "down." "I wanted to write things that make people feel good," he told Chart Beat of the new direction. "Everyone gets depressed. I was disappointed when 'This Is The Day' failed to get any higher [on the charts] but you can't dwell on it."

With it's sunny melody and optimistic lyrics, the song does lend itself nicely to the ad's "You can be extraordinary!" message, but whether or not you have to actually turn into an M&M to improve your life, as both versions of the TV ad suggest, is surely up for debate. But this isn't the first time that Mars, Inc. has hit on the music aficionado contingent of candy eaters. Last year, the company used Iron & Wine's version of 'Such Great Heights' to lure in our sweet tooths.

Listen to the song!


Buy it on iTunes

Next: VW Convertible Song