While product placement is rife in music, sometimes the best thing is when artists just casually throw a brand name in, not for money but for nostalgic purposes. Just last year, Kanye West penned a poem all about McDonald’s for Frank Ocean’s magazine - not because McDonald's was serving him up a big cheque, mostly just because he loves Big Macs.
Here are 10 of the best songs that casually make reference to food and drink brands.
Beyonce - Formation
“When he fuck me good I take his ass to Red Lobster”
This may be one of the most iconic Beyonce lyrics of all time. For those in Oz not familiar, Red Lobster is a US food chain that serves up a lot of, erm, lobster. The day after Beyonce sung this on the Lemonade single, sales jumped by 33%.
Illy - You Say When
“Not exactly Vodka and Cottees, but obviously/Fucking with the fly shit, you're meant to indulge.”
If you grew up in Australia and can’t recite the Cottees cordial jingle, did you even really grow up here? We bet Illy can recite the jingle and while this isn’t that jingle it’s just as addictive. If it were up to us we’d be mixing Coola with vodka but the options are endless.
Vince Staples - Norf Norf
“Bitch you thirsty please grab a Sprite.”
Vince Staples really loves Sprite. He inserted it into the lyrics of one of his biggest tracks Norf Norf and then started tweeting things like, “I am here to unite us all. Peace and equality. You will all thank me later. One nation under Sprite.” Sprite eventually then gave him a Sprite commercial. Justice for all.
Drake - Child’s Play
“Why you gotta fight with me at Cheesecake, you know I love to go there?”
Drizzy loves the Cheesecake Factory so much that he’s not willing to have a petty argument in one. He filmed the video with Tyra Banks at Cheesecake Factory and while the whole thing is a bit ridiculous, you can’t help but feel sorry for Drake that his date ruined his Cheesecake experience. Watch here.
Diplo - Doctor Pepper
“Put it on ice bitch, Dr. Pepper”
Diplo’s banger with Korean popstar CL places the emphasis on US soft drink Dr. Pepper. Dr. Pepper is best served cold but apparently CL was pissed at Diplo for putting a studio session “on ice” when she wrote this and sent it to him. Kinda hoping she wrote it on a Dr. Pepper can.
Chance The Rapper - Na, Na
“Give me my Kit-Kat/Don’t break me off shit, batch, fack is you mean bitch?”
Chance loves Kit-Kat so much that he ended up in a brilliant commercial for the break-intended chocolate. This suggests he’s not up for sharing the Kit-Kat and we get that. That’s why we get Kit-Kat chunky, it’s harder to break.
Desiigner - Panda
“Twistin’ dope, lean and the Fanta.”
No one actually knows what the lyrics of Panda are but linguists have concluded that his is one of the lines. It’s probably less a saying about cracking open an ice cold Fanta and more about mixing Fanta with cough syrup.
D.R.A.M. - Broccoli
“I should sauce ‘em up like Prego/Fettucini with Alfredo.”
D.R.A.M. has legitimately talked about how much he loves Prego pasta sauce outside of this song. "I love Prego,” he told Genius.
“I do remember many refrigerators opening at my mother’s house and seeing cans of Prego. It’s very vital to my life, to my childhood memories.”
Kanye West - Gone
“My Dog worked at Taco Bell”
Kanye’s dog was working at Taco Bell but he hooked too many people up with Churros so he was fired. This may or may not be a true story.
Frank Ocean - U.N.I.T.Y.
“Green emerald/Pink diamonds like Apple Jack Bowl”
The jewels in Frank Ocean’s chain are similar to Apple Jack’s cereal - most likely in appearance and not in price. We’re probably more likely to be able to afford Apple Jack’s on a string tied around our neck.
Watch: Endless - Frank Ocean
