Talking about that? Not only did they make up but from the sounds of it, while they were a bit over the top they weren’t assholes about asking that Prodigy not play “Smack my bitch up” because very specifically about things like their song “Girls” and other license to ill tracks being taken seriously and having lasting effects. I applaud Prodigy for playing it anyways but frankly, that whole spat was hardly even worth mentioning and actually plays to the notion that they got more mature as they got older.
Funny enough I heard about this on the radio while driving earlier. It’s my understanding that the Beastie Boys aren’t going to sue. Hopefully that’s true.
As for GoldieBlox or whatever, this is one of those complex topics that will be oversimplified (i.e., just a little above the typical SRKer). Its CEO wants to drive more girls into being interested in math and the sciences – a good thing! But total vilification of other kinds of toys, even the girlier dollier variety, isn’t the answer.
On said radio program earlier, they interviewed one of the critics, a woman who doesn’t want her girls’ girl-centric playtime cast in a negative light, while proudly saying her “daughters like Lego too.” When the interviewer asked said critic if she’d let her son play with the girly toys, she clearly was stumped and bullshit some answer about how he’d be free to play with “whatever was on the floor.” A nice sidestep.
So maybe GoldieBlox is in the wrong, but there’s this huge issue in toy marketing where only very specific toys are targeted at very specific genders. It affects girls most of all, though I’m sure boys more interested in playing with dolls than Hot Wheels would probably appreciate a bit more tolerance.
-GoldieBlox makes a commercial for their new toy, using a remix’d Beastie Boys “Girls” song
-Beastie Boys sends them a message stating that when Adam died, his will stated NONE of their songs are allowed to be used for advertising
-Rather than use logic or remove the offending song, the company decides to SUE THE BEASTIE BOYS (keep in mind the Beastie Boys never even threatened them, just mentioned the aforementioned issue)
-Internet finds out, blows up, and company looks stupid and has to pull the song and has now stopped their lawsuit
-random side note was that the company was advertising the toy as something to break the mold of traditional girt gifts, yet it’s pink and purple, has animals on the packaging and fuzzy pieces and ribbons, and makes princess nonsense, thus becoming the traditional girl gift they stated they were trying to outdo in the first place
Don’t they have Action Man in America or something, always thought that was like the boys equvilent with all the various outfits and accesories he got.
Come to think of it, been years since I saw that advertised, did it die out?