The Fearless Blogger

image credit: Sick Sad M!kE

Aside from the controversial “Focus On the Family: Tim Tebow” (aka, “So glad that, given the choice between ‘no abortion’ and ‘no abortion’, I chose ‘no abortion’.”) the Air Force recruitment ad was probably my least favorite of this year’s Super Bowl ads.

Politics aside, it just kinda sucked.

The one thing it had going for it was the catchy (albeit incongruous) tune in the background.

Wouldn’t have pegged the Air Force to be a White Stripes fan?  You’re probably right -- considering the Air Force neglected to get the band’s permission to use “Fell In Love With A Girl” (video below) in their recruiting efforts.

The aesthetically-and-musically-gifted duo posted their objection to the song’s use on their homepage, beneath a side-by-side comparison of their song vs. the allegedly infringing ad, stating:

The White Stripes take strong insult and objection to the Air Force Reserve presenting this advertisement with the implication that we licensed one of our songs to encourage recruitment during a war that we do not support.

Lest their protest be interpreted as a lack of support for our troops, the band clarified that they

support this nation’s military  . . . [but] simply don’t want to become a cog in the wheel of the current conflict, and hope for a safe and speedy return home for our troops.

White Stripes' statement as it appeared on whitestripes.com

The Air Force responded to the allegations with the following statement:

. . . the Air Force Reserve, through its advertising agency, hired Fast Forward Music of Salt Lake City to score original music for its commercial. There was never any intention to utilize any existing music or to sound like any music by the band White Stripes or any other musical performer. Any similarity or likeness to any other music is completely unintentional.

Mike Speciale, a spokesman for ad agency responsible for the ad, had this to offer in their defense:

It was specifically produced for airing regionally during the Super Bowl in some local markets.  It was scheduled to be pulled right after the Super Bowl. It was only a one-time shot.

Perhaps not quite confident in Mr. Speciale’s plans to use the “one-time shot” defense approach, the Air Force has since removed the spot from their website.  The ad is also not included among Hulu’s “Adzone” collection of Super Bowl ads, although I’m not sure if  it was removed, or it wasn’t there to begin with).

For those who may have missed the ad when it aired (or for a second look), it can still be viewed here (on the Huffington Post ).

image credit: Paradasos

What do you think?

Blatant rip-off?

or

Coldplay-esque “coincidence”?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

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What’s cuter than a baby panda? SIXTEEN baby pandas!

I never thought I’d utter these words but . . . “I want to be a nursery school teacher!!”

But only for pandas.

I wonder if they’re hiring?

Hand over those invisible strings, Stephen Colbert, Conan has a whole gang of potential String-Dancing companions.

From Northwestern News on Vimeo:

Tim McGovern, a Communication senior who twice interned on Conan O’Brien’s late night talk shows, organized an informal campus rally to support the TV host.

Thanks to Facebook, Twitter and a plug for the rally during O’Brien’s monologue on The Tonight Show, more than 45 students turned out for “Conan O’Brien Day” and emulated O’Brien’s signature “string dance” at various campus landmarks.

Students Celebrate ‘Conan O’Brien Day’ at Northwestern

from The Inside Scoop from Backstage

(Yes, another Conan blog posting. Sorry if this blog’s been a bit single-minded the past week. For those who are not Conan fans, please bear with me – there’s just another week of this!)

Didn’t get to see La Bamba in a Popemobile today? Me neither.

At least folks like us can live vicariously through Tonight Show blogger Aaron Bleyaert, who just posted a great depiction of today’s rally outside the Universal lot where the Tonight Show is recorded.

Die hard fans who braved the torrential downpours were rewarded with appearances by band member La Bamba (in aforementioned “Popemobile”), announcer Andy Richter and Conan himself, plus free pizza, Conan/Leno look-alike showdowns and “I’m Wet for Conan” buttons.

La Bamba in the Popemobile (from The Inside Scoop from Backstage)

My favorite part:

(warning: Truman Show spoiler ahead!)

Conan O’Brien himself jumped out of a white van, and started jogging up the street towards Gate 2 and our building!!  It was like The Beatles dropped out of the sky holding the Jonas Brothers on their shoulders – everyone went CRAZY and ran with Coco up the street and into Gate 2!!!  Then, the weirdest thing happened: Just as Conan started running up the street, THE RAIN STOPPED. It was magical. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life; the cops blocked off lanes of traffic as everyone cheered and screamed and jumped up and down and blue sky actually peeked through the thick dark clouds and I almost expected the booming voice of Ed Harris to come rolling out of the clouds like in that part at the end of The Truman Show. . .

My favorite chant of the whole day was then: “Conan stopped the rain!  Conan stopped the rain!”

Were you there? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!

If not, feel free to leave a comment anyhow, sharing what you imagine it was like.

And read Aaron’s full story here.

video of today’s events shot by Tonight Show Clip Guy Doug Karo

click image to get your own Conan Hair portrait via Buzzfeed.com

The recent NBC “Tonight Show” battle has provided a wealth of video clips as each host and their supporters take on-air jabs at each other.

Of all the clips making the rounds this one may be the least current, but (in my opinion) it’s the most successful at making Leno look like a jerk.  Proving that no one does a better job of making Jay look like an a-hole than Jay, it’s a clip of Leno’s 2004 announcement of his plans to hand the Tonight Show over to Conan in 2009.

Some classic quotes:

When I took this show over, boy there was a lot of animosity between me and Dave and who’s going to get it, and quite frankly a lot of good friendships were permanently damaged and I don’t want to see anybody have to go through that again.

You know, this show is like a dynasty. You hold it and then you hand it off to the next person and I don’t want to see all the fighting and all the who’s better and nasty things back and forth in the press so right now, here it is:

Conan it’s yours. See you in five years, buddy.

As James Poniewozik points out in his post about the video

. . .the biggest danger to Leno among the audience is not his money, or sympathy for Conan, or the notion that he was somehow pulling the strings behind NBC’s decision. It’s being seen as a phony. Or, more to the point, actually being a phony.

People will forgive a lot of comedians they love. They’ll forgive affairs, offensive remarks, arrests, jokes that crossed a line. But they rely on guys like Leno to puncture other people’s phoniness and to have an impeccable B.S. detector. . .

My guess is Leno’s B.S. detector finally broke down from the stress of Leno setting it off himself so frequently.

Update: I found this clip of Conan’s 2004 announcement on Funny or Die & I thought it was worth including