Weirdly, Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was recently softened as a nap-time lullaby for newborns. What’s even weirder is that a second baby-friendly version of the Appetite for Destruction track is out there in the world, via a new commercial for Johnson & Johnson. The 60-second black-and-white video features a childlike voice singing Axl Rose’s lyrics while sentimental images flash across the screen: a young girl playing piano alongside her grandfather, a mother shampooing her toddler’s hair, a band-aid getting applied to a fresh scrape, all set to a tune from the band that brought you “Right Next Door to Hell,” “Back Off Bitch,” and “Dead Horse.”
As the New York Times notes, this adorably manipulative clip is the cornerstone of Johnson & Johnson’s first corporate branding campaign in more than 10 years. The company has faced some well-publicized snafus in the last few years — product recalls and thousands of pending lawsuits related to bum hip replacement units — so this new initiative, dubbed “For All You Love,” is (presumably) part of damage control. Because nothing says love and family values better than this guy.
