I hope they don't change their mind about other things that I would consider lacking dignity because people are worried about their jobs and they don't hearing lazy Milli-Vinelli types, druggy cheating athletes and MP's fiddling their finances. Plus there's a rat in my home, what am I gonna do?
I think you may be a bit harsh.
20 years ago - maybe more - the world was different. U2 could get their music on the radio, as could tons of other artists. MTV played music and helped many artists break out (and some helped MTV break out).
Now that's all changed. As I've written, NLOTH is the only album released this year to top 3M copies sold, worldwide, to date. As such, it is the best selling album released this year. Their tour was sold out long before it started. Despite this, radio stations claim that their listeners don't want to hear U2. Really? Because it appears they do very much so want to hear U2.
The effects of the tour and "Crazy" are already showing. The album has bounced up in the charts around the world. It's sad that U2 can't get their songs played, but it appears ads on TV or performing on Letterman or SNL or something similar is the way to go these days.
I know people would love to have intimate little U2 shows, where tickets are $30 and maybe there are only 2000 in attendance. But the price to pay for being a big band is a lot of fans. U2 have a stadium tour. The biggest complaint I heard for the JT tour is that people couldn't see them. So stage spectacle is now key. U2 need huge screens for all in the audience to enjoy.
But U2 still want reasonable ticket prices, despite rising prices. In 1989 and 1990, U2 were criticized in Ireland for their high ticket prices (at the time). No sponsor came at a cost. I guess the attitude was U2 shouldn't make any money and perform for free.
Now, 20 years later, one could still get some tickets at those 1989 prices, despite inflation. Why? Sponsors.
But again, that comes at a price - namely some commercials. Still, the commercial is classy - it showcases U2, their tour and their new song/album. At the end, there's a Blackberry comment. It's not like U2 are out their holding their Blackberry's up for the world to see.
Besides, don't forget that U2 also did lots of TV in the 80's - just not in the U.S. And Larry did a Harley ad in the late 80's too. So there is consistency - the only change is having a sponsor to keep touring costs down. I, for one, am happy about that.
Will U2 change again in 20 years? I'd like to think not, but there may come a time when we hear more U2 in commercials. So far, that hasn't happened (no car ads with "Streets" in it, for example). But maybe when U2 are retired and new generations have no idea what a U2 is, they may feel ads and related items are a great way of introducing their music to them. But I don't know - that's up to them. I just hope that if they do this, they continue to do so with the class, elegance and fun of prior ads, TV spots, etc.
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If I have to watch ads on the 'net, at least it was a little U2 video. 
Crazy 
