Love Kicks Cobain Shoe Ad to the Curb
Thanks in part to an outraged Courtney Love, a new Doc Martens ad has been given the boot.
The 42-year-old entertainer was steamed after learing that a new advertising campaign for the footwear company features late husband Kurt Cobain and other iconic punk rockers modeling boots in heaven.
The print ads, promoting the manufactuer’s AirWair line and only approved for use in the United Kingdom, portrayed the Nirvana star sitting in a cloudbank, clad all in white except for a pair of black boots. A tag line in corner reads: “Dr. Martens. Forever.” Similar ads featured the Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious, the Clash’s Joe Strummer, and the Ramones’ Joey Ramone. The photos were leaked earlier this month via the music blog thedailyswarm.com.
“Courtney never approved the use of these images [for commercial gain] nor would she ever approve it. She knew nothing about it,” Love publicist Alan Nierob tells E! Online.
The rep said British law, unlike American, appears to allow companies to use the images of dead celebrities without explicit permission from their estates.
Nierob said that Love was having her lawyers double check, but added that any suggestion she’d take legal action at this point was “premature.”
Dr. Martens wasn’t willing to push the issue. Facing a PR nightmare and backlash from the same fans the company was trying to court, the shoemaker said it was scuttling the campaign.
“Dr. Martens is very sorry for any offense that has been caused by the publication of images showing dead rock icons wearing Dr. Martens boots,” the company said in a statement to E! Online. “Dr. Martens did not commission the work as it runs counter to our current marketing activities based on FREEDM, which is dedicated to nurturing grass roots creativity and supporting emerging talent.
“As a consequence, Dr Martens has terminated its relationship with the responsible agency.”
The “responsible agency,” London-based Saatchi & Saatchi, defended the work, saying the photographs of Cobain and company were legally purchased from Corbis, one of the world’s largest stock photo companies.
ìWe believe the ads are edgy but not offensive. There has been blog commentary both for and against the ads, but it is our belief that they are respectful of both the musicians and the Dr. Martens brand,î said Kate Stanners, the agency’s executive creative director.
Earlier, another campaign mastermind explanied the concept behind the ads to British music site NME. com
“We wanted to communicate that Dr. Marten boots are ‘made to last’ and we discovered that these idolized musicians wore them,” copywriter Andrew Petch said. “Showing them still wearing their Docs in heaven dramatized the boots’ durability perfectly. And, as images, they feel very iconic.”
But Nierob says Dr. Martens made the right move.
“They obviously realized they did something wrong,” the publicist said. “It was in poor taste.”
Aside from Love, many fans took issue with anti-establishment punkers being used to promote shoes, others questioned the veracity of the ads.
“Kurt wore…Converse. Donít know about Doc Martens,” Ruby 17 wrote on Love’s official Website, moonwashedrose.com. “Even so, they could have at least asked permission. Wondered if they asked permission from Joey Ramoneís estate or Sid Vicious estate as well? Does look tacky I agree.”
“I canít say I knew Kurt, but to me he doesnít seem like the guy that would wanna be a spokesperson for clothing and shoes. Neither does Sid or Joey,” a user named Linn added.
Love and Cobain married in 1992 and had a daughter, Frances Bean, before the grunge star killed himself in the couple’s Seattle home two years later.
Love controls Cobain’s estate and has been very hands-on when it comes to overseeing her late husband’s legacy.
But earlier this month, the “Doll Parts” singer announced plans to auction off the bulk of Cobain’s belongings.
“I still wear his pajamas to bed,” she told spinner.com. “How am I ever going to go form another relationship in my lifetime wearing Kurt’s pajamas? Everyone’s been positive and behind me on it,” she told the site. “We’ll make a lot of money and give a bunch of it to charity.”
No word yet on a date or which organization/s will receive the spoils. The garage sale comes about a year after Love struck a $50 million deal with Primary Wave Music Publishing for a 25 percent stake in Cobain’s music royalties.
Love, meanwhile, has been putting her past drug problems behind her, boasting online that she’s now clean and sober, has dropped 44 pounds, has fixed what she said was a botched nose job and is now living on a macrobiotic diet. She’s also prepping a new solo album, Nobody’s Daughter, which should be out later this year.
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