Is OK Go a real band?

Yes, they are real humans. And yes, they play real songs. And as far as I know, they write their own songs (unlike MANY Disney machine “artists,” country “artists,” tween pop “stars,” etc). But I have to wonder at this point: Is OK Go a real band?

First off, I want you all to know something: Before they were YouTube stars, OK Go actually released a single and hosted that AWFUL Channel One show they made us watch in high school. I remember watching, hearing them and thinking “Hah, I heard this song ages ago” because it was released in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. And I remember something in the music video about ping pong (I think). If you know the song/video, please send it my way. (Wait, just found it, song’s called “Get Over It.” From 2003. No viral video here, just a normal “band in a room” video.)

So yeah, before the videos, they were a normal band. Now I’m not saying anything except to think about this: When you think of OK Go, do you think “Great band” or “Crappy band” or whatever, or do you think “Great videos” or “Crappy videos” or whatever? I’m guessing it’s the latter, which brings up an interesting conundrum: Doesn’t a band want to be known for its music? Is OK Go just another YouTube celebrity that happens to play music?

I know you remember that treadmill video that sort of shot them into superstardom, and I felt the same way I do now, that they have mediocre music set to interesting videos. Without their videos, would they have people posting on YouTube: “OMG, they are so good and singer is so hawt!”? Doubtful.

The whole point of this isn’t to rip on them. I don’t care if you do or don’t like OK Go, but I do think their new Super Bowl premiering video brings the argument to a new level. Namely, they made a 4 minute ad for the new Chevy Sonic. I know that music and advertising are hand-in-hand (VANS Warped Tour, HONDA Civic Tour, etc) but is this the first time a music video has been a full-on advertisement? Does it mean OK Go is just into selling Chevys now? How are they different from the AWFUL FreeCreditReport.com band?

I don’t know the answers and really I’m just putting it out there. I don’t care all that much about OK Go, I just wonder if they are first and foremost a rock band? A viral video crew? A sales team?