White Stripes vs. U.S. Air Force Reserve ad: Who's to blame?
The U.S. Air Force Reserve has issued a statement in response to the White Stripes’ allegation that a recruitment ad aired during the Super Bowl used an unauthorized version of their song “Fell in Love With a Girl.” Their answer, in brief: Don’t blame us. “The Air Force Reserve, through its advertising agency, hired Fast Forward Music of Salt Lake City to score original music for its commercial,” the statement reads. “There was never any intention to utilize any existing music, or to sound like any music by the band White Stripes, or any other musical performer. Any similarity or likeness to any other music is completely unintentional. This ad was produced specifically for airing regional during the Super Bowl in some local markets. It was scheduled to be pulled after the Super Bowl. It only ran one time.” A spokesperson also acknowledged that the Air Force Reserve removed the ad from its website today in response to the controversy.
Fast Forward Productions, in turn, is pointing the finger at someone else. “We hired a local musician who does stuff for us in the past,” Fast Forward owner Michael Lee tells EW. “He created the spot. Never had I ever heard the White Stripes song before. What we thought we had was original. He claims it is original. He said he didn’t use [‘Fell in Love With a Girl’], so that’s all I know.”
We’ll keep you updated as we hear more. In the meantime, do the latest statements change your take on this story?
(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)
More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
| type |
|