English synth-pop artist La Roux has hit back at a US TV network for using her most popular song as a way to promote bulletproof backpacks for children.
We’ve seen some pretty inappropriate songs used in the past to advertise certain things. Why, there was the time that Jack Daniel’s used Jane’s Addiction’s ‘Jane Says’ (a song that deals with heroin addiction) in a TV commercial, and the time that US insurance company Geico used ‘Midnight Rider’ by the Allman Brothers Band to promote motorcycle insurance – which was a bit on the nose considering that two of the band’s members died in seperate motorcycle accidents.
However, it seems that Fox Business Network have decided to up the ante with their recent segment on bulletproof back-to-school items for kids.
Airing on Tuesday morning, Fox Business Network’s Mornings With Maria Bartiromo aired a segment on a range of bulletproof backpacks by MC Armor, a company that specialises in personal protective equipment.
Fox Business Network played the song "Bulletproof" to introduce a segment about using bulletproof clothing to protect school children from guns https://t.co/eVB8EmxzOw pic.twitter.com/zQ5D1yGJhj
— Katie Sullivan (@KatSulls) August 20, 2018
“Back-to-school backpacks taking on all new meaning,” explained the host, before focusing on “high-end bulletproof backpacks and clothing”.
Of course, if you can’t quite tell what was wrong with the segment, well, there’s the fact that its intro happened to be soundtracked by La Roux’s ‘Bulletproof’. While the song’s title is indeed fitting for the piece, considering the amount of gun violence that America has, and particularly how much of it effects children in schools, it feels a little bit inappropriate.
As Stereogum reports, La Roux’s Elly Jackson spoke to the about the song’s inclusion, explaining “Using ‘Bulletproof’, a song I wrote about relationships, for a piece like this is abhorrent. I have never, and would never approve my music to be used in this way.”
A spokesperson for Fox Business Network has also responded to the backlash, noting that “The song was chosen by the production team and the selection has been addressed.”
While we’re doubting that Fox Business Network will be using ‘Bulletproof’ in the future, I guess we only have to count down the days until they’re sucked into the cheery nature of Foster The People’s ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ and use that track in a similarly-themed segment.
Check out La Roux’s ‘Bulletproof’:
