Sunday, September 13, 2009

When a Legend Sells Out


I have been around a bit, seen many amazing places and done quite a lot of stuff.

One of the most memorable experiences was to kiss Iggy Pop at the Colston Hall in Bristol, SW England on the 11th June 1987. It was election night and that evil Thatcher figure secured her third (and final) Prime-ministerial ship.

The discovery of Stooges albums, Raw Power and Funhouse was a real eye-opener and I just loved he Bowie collaborations coming out of Berlin, The Idiot and Lust for Life. This guy is like a living legend.

Imagine my shock and horror therefore when standing on the platform at Oxford Street underground station was a poster of the L'Enfant terrible advertising motor-insurance. Hell! I later saw him appear in their television advertisement!

Now aged 62, the original punk-rocker has resorted to this???

I mentioned this demise to Boy who told me that he´d heard Swift motor-insurance don´t insure 62 year olds. A bit of research shows this isn´t true. However, Swift Cover does refuses to insure musicians.

The company specifically does not cover entertainment industry people saying:
The reason swiftcover.com doesn't cover people in the 'entertainment business' is due to the risk of personal injury. That risk then becomes something for a specialist insurer to take on. Swiftcover.com chose Iggy Pop as the face of its advertising because he loves life, not because he is a musician. "He is an actor demonstrating the benefits of swiftcover.com.

According to a Billboard.com report, complaints object that it is "misleading because it uses a well-known figure from the music industry to promote an insurance service which they believe excludes musicians," according to an ASA spokesperson. As a result, the ASA has launched an investigation to determine whether the ad breaches the U.K.'s TV Advertising Code.

Swift´s £25 million ($36 million) car insurance ad campaign was launched in January.

As for that kiss? It was more of a peck on the cheek, with no tongues. I bet your bottom dollar that Iggy slut doesn´t remember it!

Has life been reduced to this?

3 comments:

  1. actually, swiftcover do insure musicians: http://www.insurancedaily.co.uk/2009/04/29/swiftcover-welcomes-musicians-as-iggy-ads-increase-sales/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rodders says yes i was with u that night at colston hall and he is a sell-out; give us a shout when next in london, aubs

    ReplyDelete
  3. And I think Owen and Rich were there too, but i can´t swear on it. I´ll be back in UK between two months and two years. I´ll try and let u know ;0)

    ReplyDelete