Las Vegas Weekly

Hungry Cloud at the Oscars?!

Vegas band-backed McDonald’s commercial debuts during Academy Awards

Local band Hungry Cloud was featured in a McDonald’s ad during the Oscars on March 7.

If you were watching the Oscars last night — and really, who wasn't? — you might have heard a familiar song coming out of your TV speakers around 8:15 p.m. Yep, that was "We Are Alive" off local band Hungry Cloud's 2008 self-titled National Southwestern Electronic album backing a one-minute McDonald's commercial just before the awards for Best Actor, Actress, Director and Picture were announced during ABC's Academy Awards broadcast.

"It was kind of bizarre," says Las Vegan Mike Weller, the singer-songwriter behind the song. "I wasn't really nervous, but I had that kind of nervous excitement as it came on."

The spot, which featured a father drinking a cup of McDonald's coffee and timing his daughter running through the desert near Red Rock Canyon, is the brainchild of local ad agency R+W, representing a co-op of local McDonald's franchises. R+W approached Weller through local filmmaker Mike Thompson, who featured "We Are Alive" and other Hungry Cloud material in last year's full-length film, Thor at the Bus Stop. R+W showed Weller storyboards, and he agreed to the song's usage. He says the commercial's wordless format — the action is backed only by a Hungry Cloud's music and lyrics — appealed to him. "We wouldn't have done it if it was compromising the song," he says.

For now, the spot, which ran again during Good Morning America this morning, is airing only locally. But Weller says R+W is shopping it to McDonald's corporate, with hopes of extending its reach to other markets like Arizona and New Mexico. "It definitely has a Southwestern vibe to it," he explains.

Weller says he originally expected the commercial to air mornings only, then received word last week that it would debut during the Oscars. "I was relaxed, thinking no one would really see it," he says. "Then we found out about the Oscars and I was like, 'Oh, crap, everyone is gonna see it.' I was expecting a more gradual buildup." Instead, he had phone calls, instant messages and texts pouring in from friends and family within moments.

As for what the commercial can do for Hungry Cloud's future, Weller sounds cautious. "I guess it will depend on whether the commercial leaves Las Vegas," he says. "But already, thousands of people probably saw it who might not have listened to my music otherwise." And he's not embarrassed about the financial return. "Indie bands don't really get paid for their albums these days," he says, "so it's good to get some money to put back into the music."