No Rock And Roll Fun

I GET CAUGHT OUT, BUT I GET OUT AGAIN: We've called Chumbawamba before on how giving away cash from commercials isn't an excuse for setting aside capitalist principles in the first place - we know that you're helping charities, but it still looks to us like you're using the muscle power of the multinational corps to flog a few extra copies of your records; and besides, giving your fee to a 'don't use cars' campaign is hardly going to offset the multi-million 'use cars' commercials you're helpfully soundtracking, while millions that hear your music endorsing the corporation are hugely unlikely to read your apologias in the new left press.
But it turns out their defence is even more hypocritical and half-assed than we'd assumed. They turned down General Electric's request to use Tubthumping on an ad for an X-Ray machine because "We have to deal with each one of these ads as they come along but we simply couldn't find a reason big enough to excuse the fact that GE's engines were flying over Afghanistan dropping bombs and incinerating civilians." Which could be fair enough. However, the band are happy to allow their music appear on a Pontiac advert. Pontiac is a General Motors brand, as is, of course, GM Defense and Delco Systems. Now, while we could see that an exception might be worth making to promote something socially useful like an X-Ray machine, how do the 'wumba justify dealing with a branch of the murderous weapons industry to give a sales boost to a gas-guzzling sports car?
Please like us still, beg Chumbas [Ananova] - we know people with guns, you know...