14 December 2007

This Is Not A Fugazi Post



The famously anti-commercial Ian MacKaye has given the Brooklyn-based Wheelhouse Pickles Company the "OK" to sell a brand of hot sauce named after Minor Threat with a parody of their famous “Bottled Violence” mascot.

The Wheelhouse Pickle Co. sent Ian a sample of the sauce and he said it was “nice”.

The Minor Threat hot sauce is said to be a mild breed of habanero peppers, inspired by “the legendary mustard and mango-based habanero sauces of the West Indies, only it mysteriously privileges the pepper's fruitiness over its notoriously overwhelming heat.”

Um, right... OK, then.



In 2005, the cover of Minor Threat's first EP was hijacked by Nike and used as a promo poster for a Nike skateboarding tour called “Major Threat”.

Nike also altered Minor Threat's logo for the same campaign, as well as featuring Nike sneakers in the new picture, rather than the Doc Martens worn by Ian MacKaye's younger brother Alec on the original cover.

MacKaye issued a press statement condemning Nike's actions and said that he would discuss legal options with the other members of the band. Meanwhile, Dischord encouraged people to organise a letter-writing campaign protesting Nike's infringement.

A few weeks later, Nike issued a statement apologising to Minor Threat, Dischord Records, and their fans for the “Major Threat” campaign and said that all the promotional artwork they could get a hold of would be destroyed.

Later that year, Fox played the first few seconds of “Salad Days” during a football game. Use of the song was not cleared by Dischord Records or any of the members of Minor Threat. Fox claimed that the clip was too short to have violated any copyrights. I could definitely see those bells and the drums building up as a perfect “NFL Game Day” opener. Good choice, guys!



The thing is, folks, the people in these creative positions now are all drawing from the same reservoir. That's why you're hearing the music you hear in so many random adverts now.

“The Man” in the suit and tie at the advertising company is a late-20 to mid 30-something who knows all this shit, too. And well, this is what happens. Stop acting so surprised and appalled.



It's not just some clueless suits poaching punk anymore. That was back in the Nirvana/Green Day era. Now there's actual punks, all grown up, with the same frame of reference as you and I. Imagine that!



You see this, motherfucker? You see this anthropomorphic punk rock duck with the studded collar and the nose ring? That's Floyd D. Duck, motherfucker, Bubble Gum's mascot du jour.

Deal with it.

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