Entertainment For Lively Minds
A message from John Lennon
Posted by Neil Walker on 30 December 2008 - 3:35am.
Anyone else feel a little uncomfortable about this ad featuring John Lennon? It's kind of creepy, I reckon.
Yeah, OK it's for charity [ http://laptop.org/en/ ] and has been sanctioned by Yoko Ono (she approves anything these days though - as Oasis haters have recently noted, do you know what I mean?).
Would John Lennon have been happy to appear in this charity ad, were he still alive?
And with the advent of new technology that makes this kind of thing possible, should celebs now consider insisting their image not be used in such a manner after their deaths?
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I know what you mean, but...
...I can't help feeling that this is of no concern whatsoever to John Lennon, wherever he is. I mean, seriously, why would anyone want to insist that this sort of stuff doesn't happen to them after they're gone? Why would they care? I do know what you mean about it being a bit creepy, but I'm no longer shocked by this kind of thing.
"You're gonna be remembered for the things that you say and do"
I disagree, Lucas. I've no belief whatsoever in the afterlife and for all I care my dead body can be used in cat food, but tampering with someone's legacy and putting words into their mouth after they've gone seems wrong on principle.
We've talked before about duets with dead people; that's just nauseatingly tacky - this kind of thing is even worse. We're at the top of a slippery slope, you mark my words!
and a propos of nothing...
but your quote, was has Bugsy Malone been on the telly yet this Christmas...i LOVE the ending of it where they sing that.
as for the lennon advert, i'm just creeped out by the voice in it. Is it a mimic?
Yes
Wrong. In so many ways. However, only as perceived by us. My point is, I don't think Lennon would care. Gross speculation on my part, of course. I have no idea what dead people think.
Was that Andrew Harrison doing the voiceover?
To these here ears it sounded more like him than the hallowed man of peace Lennon. I feel somewhat in need of a sick bucket after watching that, although I would never argue with the justness of the cause.
It was stitched together from Lennon's voice digitally
It doesn't sound right though, does it? Technology hasn't yet been able to completely fool the human ear(s). It's a vibe thing. It just doesn't sound like natural speech.
I just think it's a shame that creative types spend their lives "really meaning it man" then are screwed over like this after their death.
If living celebs want to advertise products it's their call, but personally I believe Bill Hicks said it best [language warning]:
I blame Geldof!
Once someone says 'but it's for charity' then advertisers are allowed to get away with ANYTHING!
The Daily Mash has it: -
''LAPTOP ADVERT STARS JOHN LENNON IMPERSONATOR
BEATLES legend John Lennon has been impersonated in an advert for the first time since his death 28 years ago.
A man who sounds a bit like Lennon features in a new video for the One Laptop Per Child Foundation.
The impersonator, approved by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, urges the world to 'imagine' what it would be like if every child had a laptop and could 'access a universe of information' and Google Ads.
Tom Logan, secretary of the British Association of John Lennon Impersonators (BAJLI), said: "John Lennon impersonators have always been committed to ending poverty and promoting world peace so we were more than happy to endorse this project."
He added: "We'll never really know if the real John Lennon would have supported it, mainly because his last known whereabouts was a jar on Yoko Ono's mantelpiece.
"I suspect however that he would have, given all those songs he wrote about cheap computers being more important than food and hospitals."
A spokesman for the OLPC Foundation said: "We had thought about using footage of him singing Imagine, or an excerpt from an interview where he says something meaningful and profound, but, for some reason, neither of them included the word 'laptop'."
OLPC confirmed the next advert would feature a Lennon impersonator performing a new version of Imagine but with specially updated lyrics:
Imagine there's no laptops
It isn't hard to do
Particularly as this song was written 37 years ago
When most computers were the size of a bungalow
I don't know how important computers are
But I'd imagine they're mostly used for shopping
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
You may say I'm a dreamer
But that's because I've finally got a laptop
When I said imagine having no possessions
I obviously wasn't talking about laptops
Copyright © 2008 Mashed Productions Ltd''
Why on earth use John Lennon
Why on earth use John Lennon anyway? There are enough dreary, over serious and oh-so-concerned living rock stars (Chris Martin take a bow) without having to resort to technology to exhume a dead one.
(And BTW - any songwriter whose best rhyme for "happy new year" is "without any fear" deserves to be shot.)
A touch harsh there, Andy...
?
Blimey!
Blimey!
Steady on, Mr Chapman
Lennon at least avoided the ultimate Christmas song cliches:
bells ringing - children singing
lots of toys - girls and boys
(If using these was a capital crime, who would escape the bullet?)
no, he didn't mention
anything like 'children singing' or 'bells ringing' in Happy Xmas (War Is Over); instead he chose to pile them into the ruddy song instead.
I say this as somebody who likes the song, by the way...
I knew I heard that voice somewhere....