Elton John bites off more than he can chew in new Snickers ‘rap battle’ ad

The premise of Snickers’ latest “You’re not you when you’re hungry” ad is a good one. Elton John takes part in a rap battle, churning out his 1976 hit “Don’t go breaking my heart” until he takes a bite of a Snickers bar and turns back into a real life rapper.

Elton is Snickers’ biggest star yet, and he seems to be game for a laugh, but somehow he’s too A-list to pull it off. Plus it doesn’t make sense that he sings his song so painfully out of key. Surely it’s enough that it’s a 1970s pop hit instead of a 2018 rap number?

This year’s Sunday Times Rich List values Elton John at £300 million, up £10 million from last year. Apparently he’s cutting down on lucrative live shows, but that should be enough money for anyone, especially with his back catalogue of hits to keep the royalties coming in.

Maybe Elton is trying to align himself with a younger crowd with help from AMV BBDO? His quote says: “Most people already know I’ve long been an advocate of hip-hop and that’s why I wanted be a part of this – I got to hang out with Boogie and some great hip hop talent from the UK too…. hip hop is one of the biggest music genres in the world today.”

Joan Collins and Mr Bean did it better.

MAA creative scale: 5