Indie bands try to smoke Camel and Rolling Stone
Words Huw Nesbitt
While the writers and execs at Rolling Stone HQ were most probably still celebrating the aging bastion of counter culture’s 40th anniversary issue, there were more than few dissenters intent on wrecking their lovefest.
Having been featured without prior consent in a foldout insert promoting Camel’s web-music portal ‘FARM’ in Rolling Stone’s November 2007 issue, Canadian hardcore stars Fucked Up, and experimental San Franciscan duo, Xiu Xiu (pictured), filed a lawsuit against not only Rolling Stone but also Camel owners, R.J. Reynolds, claiming unauthorised use of their names for commercial advantage. Launched on December 17th, the action is unparalleled in the history of the publication and comes following similar demands from other groups mentioned in the foldout including KRS-One, and labels Kill Rock Stars and Touch and Go to make an official apology for using their names.
In another high profile case that R.J. Reynolds are already involved in, a county lawsuit filed has been against the tobacco giant by eight Attorney Generals, claiming that the same advertisement’s use of R. Crumb’s childlike, cartoon imagery, effectively promotes smoking in young people. The ad itself, imaginatively entitled the ‘Indie Universe’ - seemingly a finite plane of existence which will certainly be of comfort to White Stripes fan Stephen Hawkins - lists and describes over 183 bands and artists (including the aforementioned White Stripes amongst many) all of whom the two plaintiff parties intend to represent in this case. Consequentially, and in the event that the action is successful, Rolling Stone and R.J. Reynolds could be forced to sing to the tune of an estimated $195.3 billion in damages, however in a country where nutjobs like O. J. Simpson are still free to purchase undersized leather accessories, this is about as probable as Enron re-launching themselves an ethically minded accountancy firm.
Still, stranger things have happened. Dubbed online as ‘Camelstonegate,’ in a recent statement posted on Dailyswarm.com, the notoriously hard living Fucked Up singer, Damian Abraham, although reluctant to divulge the group’s preferred brand of tabs, had this to say on recent events:
“This isn’t a case of subliminal advertising, where we’re claiming that there were penises in the shadows - our name is right there. Maybe they thought we were too stupid to know what was going on.”
Naturally, for Fucked Up, a band famous for one minute-or-less performances involving self abuse, and uh, food, the proceedings are taking a slightly tongue in cheek character. The sardonic notes to their case’s profile, where Fucked Up appear as F***** Up (‘so as not to needlessly afford opportunities for distraction from the merits of this lawsuit’) suggest that the plaintiff’s interpretation of the use of their name in this context is ‘the only possible impression that can be left on any sentient twenty-first century being with eyesight’, all of which must be a colossal stain on their post-New Year’s smoking abatement plans.
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- Xiu Xiu / ULU, London (Posted in 017 June 2008 | Sports)
