While notorious cigarette conglomerate Philip Morris International insist that “Maybe never wrote a song” in their tasteless ‘Don’t be a maybe’ marketing campaign, The Temper Trap certainly did and now the tobacco giant could be hearing from the band’s lawyers.
For those unfamiliar with the campaign, Philip Morris International (PMI), who own cigarette brands like Marlboro and Benson & Hedges, have been running ads in countries including Germany since 2011 with a view to recruiting younger smokers.
As The Guardian reports, Germany banned promotional images associated with the ‘Don’t be a maybe’ campaign in October 2013, ruling that they were designed to encourage children as young as 14 to take up the habit.
The campaign is comprised of billboards, adverts, and promotional events including concerts. The ads depict young people acting in the kind of adventurous, radical ways we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in Coca Cola ads. One poster features two people kissing in the street and reads, “Maybe never fell in love – Be Marlboro.”
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But it’s a video produced by the $62 million campaign that has been making headlines after it was featured in an anti-tobacco segment on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The video features more sexy footage of young people being adventurous, set to the tune of The Temper Trap’s ‘Sweet Disposition’.
The band’s 2008 breakout single has previously been licensed for use in Hollywood films like (500) Days of Summer and for Channel Ten’s AFL coverage, but according to a statement from Liberation, who released the single, the band never approved its use by Marlboro.
“This usage was not approved by anyone from the band, management, record labels or publishers,” a statement provided to Tone Deaf reads. “We are disgusted by this blatant rip-off of the band’s music and it’s currently in the hands of our legal team.” And it’s not just the music choice that isn’t kosher.
As BuzzFeed reports, after more attention was brought to the advert through its appearance on Last Week Tonight, two filmmakers, including Australian Rick Mereki, came out claiming Marlboro had pulled footage from their projects and also included them in the ad without permission.
While normally we expect companies to clear use of any music or footage before employing it in one of their ad campaigns, we can’t say we’re terribly surprised that a company pouring millions into getting more young people to smoke would be equally unethical with their licensing.
