Jay Ray on feature in Hugh Jackman commercial: "I couldn't believe it!"
It’s always fun to see when metal music gets some exposure in the mainstream. Whether it be Cannibal Corpse in “Ace Ventura”, to Napalm Death playing their shortest song on BBC’s “What’s That Noise”. But recently, it happened again. This time with Finnish solo artist Jay Ray. Yesterday, his song “137” was featured very briefly as part of a gag in a commercial for Laughing Man Coffee, a coffee brand founded by Australian actor Hugh Jackman and the embodiment of what most guys hope they’ll look like when they’re in their 50s… boy are they in for a surprise.
I talked about it yesterday here and mentioned that I reached out for comment from Jay Ray himself. Well I finally got word back. It’s always interesting to know that something as simple as “My song was featured in a commercial” can explode into the biggest game of “Am I smoking crack?”. Not his words, but that’s a good way to summarize how Jay Ray felt about the situation.
“This came out all the sudden.” Jay said when asked how this whole thing happened. “I was doing my regular stuff and suddenly received a comment to my ‘137’ on YouTube, saying like ‘Hugh Jackman brought me here’. I was like what the heck is this.. probably some joking. Then more comments start to pump up and I'm like what it's all about. Then I realized this song is featured on Hugh Jackman's new commercial. To be honest my heart was pumping like crazy, I couldn't believe it. Same time I was shocked and also very happy. I still am.“
According to Jay Ray, although it was a huge surprise, the people behind the commercial did pay the licensing fee to use the song in the commercial, which is good to know that the man got paid in conjunction with a “what the fuck” moment of joy. I did ask him if he thinks they knew his work personally, but it doesn’t appear he’s fully convinced that they do. “I don't believe they know my work personally but who knows.. at least a video editor probably made a little research before putting this song on their video.“
Since it’s release, the Laughing Man Coffee commercial - entitled “Nice Morning” - has garnered half-million views within the last 24 hours. It’s safe to say that it was a hit. And on top of that, the music video for “137” has also seen a sudden increase in viewership since the commercial’s release. You can check out the song and the commercial it was featured in below.
I thought I was done with these guys… apparently not!