If you were out of the loop this week, you might not have heard that Disney was selling a t-shirt that ripped off Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures cover art. You totally remember the cover art:
And now, brace yourself:
Horrifying.
At any rate, after Pitchfork broke the story, there was a massive outcry and not too long later, Disney pulled the shirt. (Here's the dead link to the original Disney page.) Let's be honest--it wasn't the outcry that scared Disney into pulling the shirt, it was more of the realization of their legal snafu. None of the remaining members of Joy Division nor any of their "people" copped to having given Disney the permission to do this. And you TOTALLY know if Disney HAD gotten the rights to do this, they'd be dropping names, showing off contracts, etc. So yeah, Disney pulled the shirts. Thanks, Pitchfork, this is the best thing you've ever done. No, really.
Of course, people are always looking for a way to cash in. Here's one of the shirts that just sold on ebay for $376.50. Of course now a few more shirts have cropped up like here and here and here. This particular listing is my favorite because:
"The shirt is very clean, it has only been worn three times, but I have never washed it, so the art has not faded."
OMG, EWWWWWWWW!
Anyway, what a travesty, although shockingly enough Peter Hook claimed to be pretty flattered by the entire design. He did however drop this quotable awesomeness:
"I hope that [Disney] will be as understanding when we start doing Donald Duck shirts.”
Indeed, Peter. Indeed.
And now, brace yourself:
Horrifying.
At any rate, after Pitchfork broke the story, there was a massive outcry and not too long later, Disney pulled the shirt. (Here's the dead link to the original Disney page.) Let's be honest--it wasn't the outcry that scared Disney into pulling the shirt, it was more of the realization of their legal snafu. None of the remaining members of Joy Division nor any of their "people" copped to having given Disney the permission to do this. And you TOTALLY know if Disney HAD gotten the rights to do this, they'd be dropping names, showing off contracts, etc. So yeah, Disney pulled the shirts. Thanks, Pitchfork, this is the best thing you've ever done. No, really.
Of course, people are always looking for a way to cash in. Here's one of the shirts that just sold on ebay for $376.50. Of course now a few more shirts have cropped up like here and here and here. This particular listing is my favorite because:
"The shirt is very clean, it has only been worn three times, but I have never washed it, so the art has not faded."
OMG, EWWWWWWWW!
Anyway, what a travesty, although shockingly enough Peter Hook claimed to be pretty flattered by the entire design. He did however drop this quotable awesomeness:
"I hope that [Disney] will be as understanding when we start doing Donald Duck shirts.”
Indeed, Peter. Indeed.
