Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Angry, angry Daily Mail: Computer error message

The Daily Mail takes a break from calling from Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross to be burned as some kind of witches to get angry at Hewlett Packard for encouraging child abuse. Or, rather:

Computer giant Hewlett Packard has caused outrage after paying convicted paedophile Gary Glitter £100,000 in royalties to use one of his songs in their latest ad campaign.

In the promos for the new HP TouchSmart monitor, Eighties rocker Joan Jett's cover of Glitter's 1972 hit Do You Wanna Touch Me is heard over the visuals.

It's not even Glitter's version of the song they're using. Is anyone really outraged by this, Mail? They have found an American organisation - AbuseWatch.net - to froth at the mouth a little, but given that even convicted paedophiles are still allowed to earn a living, it's not quite clear what the problem is. (Nor, indeed, why the Mail didn't get quite so exercised about George Bush using Glitter's music in the 2004 election campaign.)

The paper tries to make the song sound like it could be a hymn to sex wrongs:
The song include the lyrics: 'Every girl an boy. Needs a little joy. All you do is sit an stare.

'Beggin on my knees. Baby, wont you please. Run your fingers through my hair.'

- surely not even the Mail thinks that Glitter was using baby in the "newborn child" sense of the word, rather than the pop music usage of "person who I love", is it?

Still, the paper is clear: Nobody should be delivering cash to Gary Glitter. That is its line.

But hold on: what's this?
Scroll down to see the ad

Yes, having slammed HP for running Glitter's music and delivering him royalties, the Mail is, erm, running the ad featuring Glitter's music and, thus, delivering him royalties.


1 comment:

acb said...

Does Glitter have the writing credit for the song? If so, he'd get royalties on any cover versions.

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