Brands & Merch

BK and Blige comment on pulled chicken ad

By | Published on Thursday 5 April 2012

Mary J Blige

Mary J Blige has responded to criticism of a Burger King ad in which she is seen singing about one of the fast food chain’s chicken products. One US website called the singer’s appearance “buffoonery”.

As previously reported, the fast food company announced on Tuesday that it had pulled the ad, which seemingly only ever hit the web, and wasn’t really meant to be aired in public at all. The premature release online meant that not all music licensing matters had been dealt with (which was the official reason for the video being withdrawn), but also that the segment was seen out of context, which Blige says is why people have responded so negatively it.

Commenting on the Blige promotional clip, which is part of a wider all-star celebrity ad campaign being launched by the firm, Burger King said in a statement yesterday: “Burger King is very proud to have Mary J Blige, Jay Leno, Steven Tyler, David Beckham, Salma Hayek and Sofia Vergara as part of its A-list celebrity line-up promoting the launch of the new BK menu items. Unfortunately, the Mary J Blige commercial was released prematurely before all of the licensing and final approvals were obtained. We would like to apologise to Mary J and all of her fans for airing an ad that was not final. We hope to have the final ad on the air soon”.

Meanwhile Blige herself said in a statement: “I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence. Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening in that clip, so I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an unfinished spot like the one you saw to go out”.



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