McDonald’s Ingredients Commercial – What’s the Song?

Those watching the 2015 Oscars got an extra dose of cinema, thanks to McDonald's new Ingredients commercial. The spot compared the elements of two major facets of culture: Iconic films and the Big Mac.

We loved the creativity behind the commercial, especially because it was set to a composition found in so many movies: "Clair de lune."

Written between 1890 and 1905, the famous melody is the third movement in Claude Debussy's Suite bergamasque. And although you may not known the composition by name (until now!), you've definitely heard it before.

We took a quick scan of Mr. Debussy's IMDB page (yes, he has one, despite having passed away in 1918) and we found that the famous movement has been in a ton of films and TV shows.

Here's the highlight reel: American Hustle, The Purge, Phineas and Ferb, White Collar, Boardwalk Empire, The Simpsons, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, South Park, Atonement, The Darjeeling Limited, Ocean's Thirteen, Malcolm in the Middle, Ocean's Eleven, The Ren & Stimpy Show and even Animaniacs. Yep, that's a long, long roster!

If that's not enough pop culture references for you, here's one more. Janelle Monae samples "Clair de lune" in her "Say You'll Go" track.

Want some more info about the composition? Of course you do. "Clair de lune" means "moonlight" in French and, according to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, its name was inspired by Paul Verlaine's "Clair de Lune" poem.

Now that you know so much about it, you can listen to "Clair de lune" in the video below.