Radio 1 has confirmed it has banned a song that had been played by two of its specialist DJs after it emerged the track had been commissioned by an advertising agency to promote a new brand of hair gel.
The electro track, by Shocka featuring Honeyshot, was called 'Style, Attract, Play', and had featured on Radio 1 shows hosted by Judge Jules and Annie Nightingale, as well as shows on Xfm and Kiss. But the Guardian last week discovered that the band had been created by London ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and that the song's title was the slogan for one of its client's hair gel brands, most probably Shockwaves (actually, I think it might have been Popjustice that first spotted the song's ad status, but the Guardian then approached Radio 1).
When informed that the track was a promotional tool for a hair product, a spokesman for Radio 1 told the Guardian: "The track was presented to Radio 1 in the usual way, via a legitimate promotions company and we were not aware that it was a promotional tool for a hair product. As this is created by an advertising agency with the sole purpose of selling this product, and we do not play adverts, it is not something we would play again".
Neither Shockwaves nor Saatchi have commented on the song since the Guardian reported on its ad status, although the marketing media reported on the creation of pop group Honeyshot as a new marketing channel when Saatchi first advertised for group members via The Stage newspaper last year.
There is mixed opinion in music and marketing circles as to whether Honeyshot is the clever marketing device it was created to be, or whether consumers will backlash against the hair gel product when they realize they have been sold an advert as a pop song. One PR expert, Julian Henry of London based marketing agency Henry's House, told the Guardian: "I think it's a crass and slightly crap attempt to hoodwink the public and the press".