Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaign

Update 11/12/11, 10:00 PM PT:

Link posted at Morrissey Reddit:

Morrissey, how could you? Fans of The Smiths horrified as 'anti-establishment' band allows John Lewis to use song in Christmas TV ad - Daily Mail
£6m promo already being dubbed the greatest ever

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Update 11/11/11, 7:10 AM PT:

Ad is now on YouTube:



Also:
Please please please don't sell our music to advertisers - by Adam Boult, The Guardian

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Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaign - The Telegraph

His lyrics are not usually associated with festive cheer, but Morrissey has permitted department store John Lewis to use a song by The Smiths for its Christmas advert.

Excerpt:

The famously curmudgeonly singer has given his blessing for a cover version of Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want to feature on the chain’s £6 million television advertising campaign.

The track will be performed by Slow Moving Millie, a relatively unknown musician and actor whose real name is Amelia Warner and was once briefly married to the Hollywood actor Colin Farrell.

 

[nozmuppet]

Lighten up people ! Moz lets John lewis play the music to the masses. Podgy softy is feeling a bit festive.

 

[Anonymous]

He walks off stage at festivals because he smells meat being cooked, (attention seeking if you ask me). Once again the man shows his hypocrisy. He has no difficulty allowing one of his songs to be used by a chain store that along with its array of tat it sells leather jackets, leather shoes and serves meat in it's stores with cafe's. It's Christmas hampers contain fish, ham, beef and chicken. Wake up and smell the double standards, he's lived by those standards for years. He's a parody.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Article: Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaig

First the morrissey blog closes down after messing with the poor fans for months.
And now this happens and no record deal. There's never been a more depressing time to be a morrissey fan.

Really? Don't you remember the release of Maladjusted?

 

[Anonymous]

At first I was dissapointed by the idea of this but then I thought a) there are real problems in the world and b) the cash Moz will get from this will enable him to keep touring small venues as opposed to terrible arenas

 

[devout]

Saddest thing ever.Bill Hicks was right.

 

[Anonymous]

Morrissey should stick to his working class roots. At least Johnny Marr still has some integrety. You wouldn't catch him swanning about selling Ray-Bans, or something...

 

[Anonymous]

i smell a smiths reunion?

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Article: Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaig

God. I mean, what's next I wonder.......are Moz and Marr going to allow 'Asleep' to be used on an advert to sell mattresses by the bed manufacturer 'Dreams' perhaps? Or maybe 'Some Girls are Bigger Than Others' to advertise 'Weight watchers'...??? It's only a matter of time.....! (Anyone got any more suggestions?? Hahar!)

So depressing though. It's true , Money Changes Everything. We've been sold out folks.....

Merry Christmas.

 

[MILVA]

oh well - it's a cover version. And what control do you have over the use of a cover version?

 

[herge65]

Love it. Songs are different things to different people. It works so well. A brilliant and classic commercial!Well done Moz...good call

 

[ASLEF shrugged]

John Lewis is a great place to work, it's owned by the staff, everyone gets a share in the company and this year they got paid 18% of their annual salary as a bonus. At least it wasn't Harrod's or Tesco's.Plus the drapery and haberdashery sections are damn good.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought my mood was severe enough- sat infront of the X Factor against my will, the Saturday night was going nowhere fast.

Skip to the advert break and I'm hissing at the television- unable to spit obscenities from my mouth as quickly as my mind conjures them.

Run over to the iPod to play the original and my girlfriend just cannot understand that the soundtrack to months, nay, years of teenage angst and loneliness is being savagely raped on national television.

I know Moz is skint but surely there are so many other ways to make the money?

Simon T

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Article: Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaig

Sigh. I was sooooo disappointed when I heard about this today. I always loved The Smiths for their anti corporate / establishment stances.....now mere weeks after 'This Charming Man' is used on a John Lewis ad; one of the very best, holiest of holy, heart breakingly beautiful Smiths songs is being sold to John f***ing Lewis in order for them to flog their middle class tat.
Personally I think it's f***ing disgraceful. 'Please, please...' is our hymn about longing and unrequited love.... No way on earth should it be used to sell household goods or clothes, etc, cover version or otherwise. Shame on you Moz and Marr! Unforgivable. You should be bloody ashamed of yourseves.

You've made an old fan very sad.

Edd the caricaturist.

Hilarious, come on smiths obsessives.

Firstly John Lewis are not your average corporation, they share profits with their staff members. Not quite the same as ASDA/Walmart and their U.S shareholders....

Secondly since when has being anti-establishment been anti-capitalism? It's just more of this ill informed political rubbish of the recent protests mixing up their messages..

I don't recall the Smiths or Mr M refusing to sign a record deal, ie a corporate business contract, or handing over all royalties from their singles and albums to charity or setting fire to them whilst singing 'the red flag'?

It seems, sadly like many bands (manic street preachers etc), that they attract a certain 'fan' base that are desperate to project their own prejudices and world view onto the band themselves making them out to be some saviour, some respite, from their own misery and let downs in life.

Get over it, they sat down with a guitar, wrote a song, sold it via a record company and bought a nice house with the profits. Then 30 years later someone said, fancy making some money out of this old song? Yes please said the band, its not like it's doing anything else for us recently.

The cover version has entered the charts (surprise surprise) and expect the original to go top ten on re-entry. And probably that honking irish girl on X Factor will sing it on next weeks show.

Someone has to keep the 'M' in pies and ever-enlargingtailored suits.......

 

[Peterb]

Re: Article: Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaig

Hilarious, come on smiths obsessives.

Firstly John Lewis are not your average corporation, they share profits with their staff members. Not quite the same as ASDA/Walmart and their U.S shareholders....

Secondly since when has being anti-establishment been anti-capitalism? It's just more of this ill informed political rubbish of the recent protests mixing up their messages..

I don't recall the Smiths or Mr M refusing to sign a record deal, ie a corporate business contract, or handing over all royalties from their singles and albums to charity or setting fire to them whilst singing 'the red flag'?

It seems, sadly like many bands (manic street preachers etc), that they attract a certain 'fan' base that are desperate to project their own prejudices and world view onto the band themselves making them out to be some saviour, some respite, from their own misery and let downs in life.

Get over it, they sat down with a guitar, wrote a song, sold it via a record company and bought a nice house with the profits. Then 30 years later someone said, fancy making some money out of this old song? Yes please said the band, its not like it's doing anything else for us recently.

The cover version has entered the charts (surprise surprise) and expect the original to go top ten on re-entry. And probably that honking irish girl on X Factor will sing it on next weeks show.

Someone has to keep the 'M' in pies and ever-enlargingtailored suits.......

Whilst I think it cheap to throw in your prejudical opinions re the anti capitalist protests it has to be faced that what you say about M&M allowing the use of the song is correct. I remember when Jack Dee was critisised in a similar manner for doing the guiness ads. His response was that a little compromise had furnished him and his family with a home. I imagine that neither Moz or Marr are rich enough to sneeze at the funds this advertisement will bring in. Which one of us would turn down such a fortune on principal.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Article: Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaig

Hilarious, come on smiths obsessives.

Firstly John Lewis are not your average corporation, they share profits with their staff members. Not quite the same as ASDA/Walmart and their U.S shareholders....

Secondly since when has being anti-establishment been anti-capitalism? It's just more of this ill informed political rubbish of the recent protests mixing up their messages..

I don't recall the Smiths or Mr M refusing to sign a record deal, ie a corporate business contract, or handing over all royalties from their singles and albums to charity or setting fire to them whilst singing 'the red flag'?

It seems, sadly like many bands (manic street preachers etc), that they attract a certain 'fan' base that are desperate to project their own prejudices and world view onto the band themselves making them out to be some saviour, some respite, from their own misery and let downs in life.

Get over it, they sat down with a guitar, wrote a song, sold it via a record company and bought a nice house with the profits. Then 30 years later someone said, fancy making some money out of this old song? Yes please said the band, its not like it's doing anything else for us recently.

The cover version has entered the charts (surprise surprise) and expect the original to go top ten on re-entry. And probably that honking irish girl on X Factor will sing it on next weeks show.

Someone has to keep the 'M' in pies and ever-enlargingtailored suits.......

Great post!

There are a million things more important than a reheated 1980s style NME debate about 'selling out'. And as pointed out so well above, the initial sale was made 30 years ago. Great art should be rewarded.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Article: Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaig

John Lewis is a great place to work, it's owned by the staff, everyone gets a share in the company and this year they got paid 18% of their annual salary as a bonus. At least it wasn't Harrod's or Tesco's.Plus the drapery and haberdashery sections are damn good.

If it's such a great place to work it really wouldn't have a difficulty in allowing it's employee's be represented by a trade union.

 

[theclarkness]

To be aired during the Xfactor well that says it all - its a dull bland cover so fits in well with the target audience, Moz n Marr will be down the boozer gettin well tanked off the royalties, scoffing the mince pies (festive variety of course) before stopping off at John Lewis' to grab some Chrimbo bargains. Dont see any problem with making money off John Lewis, Ka-Ching!!!!!!!!!!! Well done

 

[Anonymous]

I have always defended Morrissey to the hilt, all his playful comments in the press, the snide, yet provocative remarks about the Norway massacre, were I thought Morrissey trying to expose a philosophical disparity between animal and human rights. But now he's well and truly lost my support, and exposed himself a hypocrite. A staunch vegetarian, how on earth can Morrissey justify selling such a heart wrenching song to a company that also owns Waitrose - who deal heavily in meat products. There is NO difference between him selling his music to John Lewis, than there is to KFC, both would fall under his accusations of 'mass murder' the man is a rapacious hypocrite.

I thought these songs meant something, clearly I was wrong.

 

[Peterb]

Re: Article: Morrissey allows John Lewis to use Smiths track for Christmas ad campaig

I have always defended Morrissey to the hilt, all his playful comments in the press, the snide, yet provocative remarks about the Norway massacre, were I thought Morrissey trying to expose a philosophical disparity between animal and human rights. But now he's well and truly lost my support, and exposed himself a hypocrite. A staunch vegetarian, how on earth can Morrissey justify selling such a heart wrenching song to a company that also owns Waitrose - who deal heavily in meat products. There is NO difference between him selling his music to John Lewis, than there is to KFC, both would fall under his accusations of 'mass murder' the man is a rapacious hypocrite.

I thought these songs meant something, clearly I was wrong.

You're position is, ofcourse, justified if that's what you feel and to some extent I have felt the same after some of his more provacative statements but I always end up with the following problem: I cannot stop liking the songs just because of new information. So, liking the music as much as before I cannot help but be charitable to the artist and so end up making excuses for him.
How about you?

 

[Anonymous]

His words are rendered meaningless 'shoplifters of the world' ...Morrissey is a counter-culture iconoclast (supposedly) at least, that's what I thought, I may have to reevaluate my position in light of this news. Ironically, David Cameron's appreciation makes more sense now. "Meat is Murder" but not in John Lewis, or Waitrose apparently.