Now that the National Hockey League’s annual Winter Classic is in the rearview, its attention now turns to the All-Star Game. That’s expected. But what caught us by surprise was the NHL’s use of Hum’s 1995 alt-rock jam “Stars” to soundtrack the television ads, which aired during the New Year’s Day game between the Washington Capitals and the Chicago Blackhawks.
The TV spot, which you can watch below, is a 30-second instrumental clip that plays as players like Zach Parise, Jonathan Toews, and Kris Letang shoot the puck around before Steven Stamkos fires a shot on Tuukka Rask.
“Stars”… All-Stars… it all makes sense.
This isn’t the first time the Illinois band has seen its biggest hit used in a TV ad. A few years ago “Stars” was featured in a 2008 Cadillac commercial, and the placement has helped maintain the song’s popularity, selling more than 25,000 digital downloads nearly two decades after its initial release. Though most active in the 1990s, with their commercial peak coming with 1995’s You’d Prefer An Astronaut album, the 2000s and this decade has seen multiple Hum “reunions.”
The NHL All-Star Game takes place January 25 in Columbus, Ohio.