3. Kurt Cobain, Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone, And Sid Vicious
Surely the mother of all such stolen celebrity likenesses in adverts was the spectacularly wrongheaded campaign by Doc Martens who decided to harness their reputation as the footwear of choice for true punks with a series of TV spots where musical heroes Joey Ramone, Joe Strummer, Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain all hung out in heaven together. Wearing Doc Martens. With hokey little angel wings strapped to their backs. Using dead musicians (many of whom died under particularly tragic circumstances) to hawk footwear seemed to be in pretty bad taste to begin with before you even get to the fact that the company apparently didnt ask anybody involved if it was okay to use their likenesses. Supposedly the logic was that dead men tell no tales, and they dont demand to be consulted before making endorsements? We wanted to communicate that Dr Martens boots are 'made to last,' and we discovered that these idolised musicians wore them. Showing them still wearing their Docs in heaven dramatised the boots' durability perfectly. And, as images, they feel very iconic, was their reasoning. Courtney Love rightly kicked up a fuss, and the whole campaign was pulled.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
