I started out rambling around the Intertubes looking for information about the biggest record sales week in history. Within a few minutes I happened upon a Wikipedia page I thought I’d rather share instead. What are the most frequently mentioned brands in Top 20 songs? Unfortunately, the years covered by brand management consultant Lucian James were only 2003-2005. Still, it was interesting to note the brands mentioned and how many times, assuming the numbers are correct.
Mercedes dominated all brands over these three years (275 mentions) and hip hop ruled the genres in terms of conspicuous brand shout-outs. Here is a direct rundown of the Wikipedia article with some additional details and sample songs the article cites added for illustration.
According to the Wikipedia article, in 2003, nearly 39% of the 111 songs charting in the Billboard Top 20 mentioned one or more brands in their lyrics. Good Charlotte’s “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” off The Young and The Hopeless is the only non-hip hop song to flash a brand (McDonald’s). Here is the Top 3 for 2003:
#1 Mercedes (112)
#2 Lexus (4 
#3 Gucci (47)
Good Charlotte - Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Kanye broke out solo strong in 2004 with The College Dropout. When he wasn’t ensuring Jacob the Jeweller had plenty of business, Mr. West made sure to reference 19 different brands in his triple platinum solo debut. GEICO car insurance, Pepsi, and Toys R Us are all mentioned in “Through The Wire”.
Kanye West - Through The Wire
The 2004 Top 3:
#1 Cadillac (70)
#2 Hennessy (69)
#3 Mercedes (63)
The only non-hip hop charter to slip a mention in?
Jessica Simpson - With You
Her brand? Levis, in the first 10 seconds of the song. How mundane. Maybe they were bedazzled, which is, of course, southern fried suburban bling.
In what must be an early manifestation of what we now know is his obsession with one-upping Kanye, 50 Cent made sure to mention 20 different brands in 2005. And, while the article calls her pop and considers brand mentions to have branched out more from hip hop, Gwen Stefani’s “Rich Girl” can’t really be called pop given her beat-heavy connections.
Gwen Stefani - Rich Girl (ft Eve)
Finally, the Top 3 in 2005:
#1 Mercedes (100)
#2 Nike (63)
#3 Cadillac (62)
So, between 35-40% of all the Billboard chart songs you heard in those three years - and probably hear now - contained mentions of one brand or more. How’s that for Those Zany Charts …?
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