Sunrise and Roger Federer Spotlight the Pains of Connecting to Hotel Wi-Fi

‘Theme from a Summer Place’ is a song that instantly evokes a simple, easygoing way of life. A summer stroll by a lake. A walk through the park. A day at the beach. With its iconic string riff, simple 6/8 rhythm and layered, lush orchestration, ‘Theme from a Summer Place’ by Percy Faith and His Orchestra is often regarded as the grandfather track of the Easy Listening genre. In fact, it is still the longest-running instrumental ever to rank at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

But did you know that this version is not the original, which originally featured in the movie ‘A Summer Place’ starring Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue? The original song featured lyrics by Mack Discant and Max Steiner and was used as a secondary love theme between the star-crossed couple. But now, with multiple uses across film and television since then, it’s safe to say that the instrumental theme has lingered far longer in the memory than the original Delmer Daves handled film.

Tracks & Fields researched and cleared the instrumental as an ironic counterpart to a woman’s struggles in Swiss mobile company Sunrise’s latest spot, detailing her struggles with connecting with hotel Wi-Fi. In just a short few scenes, we see her trying and failing to memorise long and complicated passwords, her stressful situation at odds with the relaxed nature of the music that plays in the background. Its effectiveness lies in its specificity, taking a situation that we all know well — connecting to Wi-Fi abroad — and selling a simple solution — unlimited data when you travel — instead.

Produced by Farbfilm Studio and handled by Thjnk Zürich, it is a humorous way of promoting the seamlessness of great data plans courtesy of the Swiss mobile giant, showing the timelessness of the iconic Easy Listening track.