It’s 2016 and the line between hustling and selling out is blurrier than ever. Some would even argue that there’s no such thing as selling out anymore, you simply do what you have to do to get by.
When approached by a company, many bands jump at the chance to score a pay-check working on something ‘just for the money’ in order to finance other projects that they actually feel passionate about.
Certainly, no one could begrudge them this. “I don’t know what it means to kids anymore. In a way, it’s sort of a marketing tool, as well, this idea of selling out and which side of the fence are you on,” Regurgitator’s Quan once told us.
“I lived in Hong Kong for a long time and I had trouble finding things that weren’t connected to corporations – art projects, music projects… it was natural for artists to just accept that.”
We all have our own personal feelings on the matter and it may even vary for different artists. No one blinks an eye when Justin Bieber does a corporate plug or even when Kendrick Lamar collabs with Taylor Swift.
But when Henry Rollins, a bona fide icon of punk rock and the alternative music movement, say, does an ad for a high-end fashion house like Calvin Klein, emotions can run high, which is precisely what’s happened.
Calvin Klein are currently pushing a new campaign entitled ‘#myCalvins’, in which various notables from the world of music, including the aforementioned Bieber and Lamar, explain what they do in “their Calvins”.
The idea isn’t all that groundbreaking, employing the ol’ personalised, fill-in-the-blank approach to marketing and you can probably picture CK’s marketing people crossing their fingers in the hopes that #myCalvins goes viral.
But besides a touch of controversy about some of the photos used in the campaign, it’s been pretty well-received. That is, until Henry Rollins took his official Facebook page to inform everyone, “I am fanatic in #myCalvins.”
It’s hardly the first time Rollins has worked with a high-end fashion brand, having previously done work with GAP. Rollins’ attitude at the time was pretty much “I #DGAF in My Calvins” and that seems to be his attitude now.
Though his fans have mixed feelings. “Did you think 35 years ago you would be in a Calvins ad? 30 years ago?,” wrote one commenter. “A small part of me just died,” echoed another.
“This is the same guy who said that you can’t look like a real man in white basketball shoes because they look too much like pillows, right?” wrote yet another critical commenter.
However, there are plenty of fans who are supporting Rollins and his decision to participate in the campaign. “Why do people think any time someone makes some money it’s selling out?” one fan queried.
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“If he likes Calvins and wants to promote them and gets paid to boot that is not selling out. If he hates Calvins and did it just for the money, that is selling out. See the difference?”
“I’m sure if you asked the Buzzcocks if they’d let McDonald’s use one of their songs back in the day they’d have said no way but here it is on my telly! I think Hank is a perfect CK model!” another opined.
“Henry has said many times he has a fear of ending up back in McDonald’s serving patties so no I do not blame him for this,” another added. “Man’s gotta survive.” We don’t blame him either. What about you?
