The Biden campaign debuted a political ad during Sunday's Steelers-Browns game, centered around the Blind Pig, a music club in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The thrust of the ad is that President Trump's COVID-19 response, both economic and in terms of public health, has decimated the live music business. But the commercial is perhaps most notable for the song that kicks in at about the 40-second mark, "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys. This is, Variety reports, the first time the band has licensed any of its music for an advertisement.
The Beastie Boys agreed to using "Sabotage" in the ad "because of the importance of the election," the Biden campaign tells Variety. The band has allowed the song to be used in a trailer for "Star Trek" and in the video game "Destine 2," but the late Adam Yauch said in his will that no music he was involved in creating should be used for product advertising, and the Beastie Boys have sued brands for using their songs, Variety reports.
"A lot of restaurants and bars that have been mainstays for years will not make it through this," Blind Pig co-owner Joe Malcoun says in the ad. "This is Donald Trump's economy: There is no plan and you don't know how to go forward." The economy is, probably not coincidentally, Trump's strongest issue in opinion polling.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Still, Joe Biden isn't the only top presidential candidate with support from legendary bands. Mike Love and his touring Beach Boys band played at a Trump fundraiser in Newport Beach, California, on Sunday (though founding Beach Boys members Brian Wilson and Al Jardine made clear they had nothing to do with Love's participation in a Trump event).
-
Political cartoons for November 2Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the 22nd amendment, homeless camps, and more
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
