Sasson was sponsoring Elton John's 1984 tour, so he re-recorded a few seconds of audio from 'Sad Songs' and repurposed the MTv video to keep them happy.
In 1984, an apparel company called Sasson Industries sponsored the Elton John tour which visited forty four cities in the United States. Sasson Industries was best known for their trademarked very popular Sasson jeans. In perhaps the most disappointing career decision that Elton John ever made from a hardcore Elton John fans perspective, was the decision to re-record and change the lyrics to one of his songs to help sell blue jeans. The Elton John song, "Sad Songs,' was the last track on Elton John's 1984 Breaking Hearts album. Elton John re-recorded the song and changed the chorus from "Sad Songs Say so Much," to "Sasson says so much." According to the New York Times, Sasson spent five million dollars in a television advertising campaign to promote their jeans with the use of Elton John's image and music. [1]
Elton John appeared in the video commercial that was shot to promote the company's line of apparel. For longtime Elton John fans, the vision of seeing Elton singing about Sasson Jeans was not as horrific as it would have been if it was Robert Plant or Bruce Springsteen. Elton John's flamboyant personality easily fit the commercial. And perhaps because of Elton's ostentatious showmanship, it was expected to be somewhat accepted. However, any hardcore Elton John fan that grew up with Elton's music in the nineteen seventies probably cannot hear the song "Sad Songs," ever again without thinking of Sasson jeans. In terms of rock star commercials, it was one of the biggest advertising campaigns of the nineteen eighties that featured one of the biggest musical acts in history. However, it was just the beginning for Elton as he went on to appear in commercials for Diet Coke, Pepsi and Cadbury Chocolate.
Truly awful, but this could have been much worse. Imagine 'Thriller' as 'Pepsi.'
