Today I share with you something I stumbled upon recently, it concerns evergreen 80s popstar, Rick Astley. To be clear. If you are wondering, my post is not my attempt at a RickRoll. I do have, however, an interesting piece of trivia concerning Rick (one of the biggest stars of the Stock, Aitkin and Waterman production House). What you do not know. Teenage me was quite the Rick Astley fan. (Although I never took my melomaniac ways so far as to own a tour T-shirt). My vivid memory is of all the hype surrounding “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Such was the soulfulness in Rick’s voice. After hearing the song playing on the radio, it was assumed by many that it was sung by a black man.
Ah yes, unlike nowadays, those truly, were the days when uplifting, buzzy pop was in vast supply.
“Never Gonna Give You Up” recently celebrated the 35th anniversary of its original release on July 27th. It would seem appropriate to celebrate a milestone such as this. But how do you do this? Given that the song has been the #1 meme on the internet for a decade? You could re-master or re-record the track, but no, that is not what Rick has done. Instead, he linked up with part of a new advertising campaign for insurance provider American Automobile Association (AAA) and affiliate California State Automobile Association (CSAA).
AAA’s ad campaign saw the insurance company RickRoll the public by rolling out QR codes, Billboard displays and TV commercials. Clicking on any link related to the above redirects you to a clip (a tv commercial) featuring Rick, where he recreates the hit video he is famous for from 1987.
Ace marketing strategy! I cannot think why no one thought to do this before. To this day, I still absolutely love this song.
Since talking about Rick Astley’s back catalogue, there are a couple of new additions you might like to consider when building your Rick Astley record collection.
A new 1LP version of Rick’s career-spanning compilation, “The Best of Me,” was released on September 2nd! Get your copy HERE
.In case you missed out on the Record Store Day release of the “Whenever You Need Somebody,” a new black 1LP version of the album will be released on 16th September! PRE-order HERE
Connect with Rick Astley
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RickAstley
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rickastley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialrickastley/