Beatles fans up in arms over P&G nappy ad

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 06-Aug-07, 09:10

LONDON - A Beatles song is to appear in a US nappy ad for Procter & Gamble after the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi commissioned a spot featuring 'All You Need Is Love' to support the Luvs brand.

The use of the song, which became a peace anthem during the Vietnam war, has angered Beatles fans around the world, leading to a deluge of complaints on fan forums and sites.

Procter & Gamble, which makes the nappies brand, purchased the rights to use the song from Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which owns Northern Songs, administrator of The Beatles' back catalogue.

The rights to use the song is understood to have set the FMCG giant back around £100,000.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing is a joint venture between Sony and pop star Michael Jackson, who originally bought the licence to the songs.

The company does not need permission from Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr nor the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison.

Beatles fans have been calling for a protest campaign to target Saatchi & Saatchi on internet forums.

Other Beatles songs to appear in ads have included a version of 'Help!', which was was used in a car ad in 1985, while an insurance company used a version of 'When I'm Sixty-Four' sung by Lennon's son Julian.

In 2005, McCartney lent one of his own songs to a Fidelity Investments ad and another to Lexus.

For Saatchi & Saatchi, it is not the first time this year the agency has courted controversy through the use of music in one of its ads.

Earlier this year, the London agency was fired from the Dr Martens business after it commissioned a print campaign featuring dead rock stars such as Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain wearing the iconic footwear in heaven.

At the time, Dr Martens' parent company Airwair said it did not commission the campaign, which only ran in UK music title Fact Magazine, leading to the company saying it had "terminated its relationship with the responsible agency".