Microsoft is cutting prices on the Zune to try to drum up sales for the holiday season. The company has enlisted Common and Afrika Bombaataa for a new line of ads. Here’s one of them:

The AP story linked to above is genial and credulous:

Common, a brand-savvy rapper and actor willing to team up with big companies - he promoted Gap clothing in a 2006 holiday commercial - is an apt poster child for Zune, because he appeals to hip-hop fans but also plays well in the mainstream. A second TV spot features Tennessee rockers Kings of Leon talking to The Band’s Robbie Robertson, a nod [to] the college-age indie music crowd.

I assume that if Kings of Leon and Robertson keep at it, they can be “brand-savvy” some day, too.