Posted on 02/18/2004 8:33:09 PM PST by blam
Cash family rejects piles of cash
By Hugh Davies, Entertainment Correspondent
(Filed: 19/02/2004)
The family of the late Johnny Cash is outraged at a plan to use his 1963 classic song, Ring of Fire, to promote a haemorrhoid ointment.
Advertising copy writers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, thought the lyrics, ". . . and it burns burns burns, that ring of fire, that ring of fire", were perfect for such an advert.
Johnny Cash
So did Merle Kilgore, the song's co-writer and the manager of Hank Williams jnr. He said he had often joked about the pile cream possibilities of his words.
He said: "On stage, I would say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I dedicate this song to the makers of Preparation H.' " However, the singer Rosanne Cash, the country star's daughter, said in Nashville, Tennessee, that she was appalled by the crassness of the approach.
"Merle started talking about this moronic tie-in without talking to any of us. We would never allow the song to be demeaned like that."
Kilgore said: "I certainly did not want to upset the Cash family, because I love them. I just thought it was funny."
The idea of the commercial was that of Sula Miller, a Florida television producer, who heard the song while "struggling with the uncomfortable condition".
Cash, who died in September, aged 71, allowed the song, co-written by his wife June Carter, to be used in 1999 for a commercial for Levi's jeans. But Miss Cash said the family would legally block any attempt to exploit it for haemorrhoid cream.
She said: "It is about the transformative power of love. That is what it will always mean to us."
The family's decision will mean a huge loss in fees to the singer's estate. For example, the Rolling Stones negotiated a fee of more than $500 million a year from Microsoft for the use of Start Me Up on Windows 95.
Other big deals have been made by Madonna for The Gap's use of Dress You Up and by Survivor for Esso's Eye of the Tiger jingle.
Really?
Hall of Fame punning, not just for cash.
Depends how you look at it. I’ve heard Johnny Cash interviews, Merle Haggard interviews, and Willie Nelson interviews – all of them. They struck me as somewhat humorous, down to earth people that probably wouldn’t give a flip what silly commercial was made if they got paid for it.
The family – well, they’re looking out for their interests…
I met him in 1983. I was working for a winery, in the hospitality department, that had an arrangement with the local performing arts center to host entertainers.
I had the good fortune to cook ribs for the man in black. After the meal, Johnny Cash came up to me and said in his best Johnny Cash voice, "Freebilly, those were mighty fine ribs."
I always liked Johnny after that.
Truth be known, the ribs were lousy....
A Boy Named Sue.
Hall of Fame Bunning:
That's why I prefer loose-fit.
Just think what the first line of the chorus is...apparently, all the ad agency types couldn't get past the first 32 bars.
Don't know who pulled the plug on this lot at Microsoft, but it was entirely a no-brainer. After all, who wants a product identified by (and I quote):
You make a grown man cry-y-y.
" NOW! Kiss those hemorrhoids goodbye ....with new improved etc. etc."
Yes, for an ointment for men used as an aide for genital herpes...
OY-l of O-Lay
Keep all mah skin well MOIST-nd
Make me a-live
For just nine ninety-five
You mar-vy OY-l of O-Lay!
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