The company paid Ocean $212,500 upfront to record a cover of the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory song “Pure Imagination” for their “Scarecrow” ad campaign. According to court papers, the deadline came and Ocean didn’t deliver. Instead, his representatives sent a letter with the following:
When Frank was asked to participate in this project, Chipotle’s representatives told him that the thrust of the campaign was to promote responsible farming. There was no Chipotle reference or logo in the initial presentation, and Chipotle told Frank that was an intentional element of the campaign.
So basically, Ocean thought he was promoting responsible farming, not Chipotle’s brand. Things got dicey when Ocean didn’t return the advance, which prompted the lawsuit by Chipotle.
In response to the lawsuit, Ocean wrote a check for $212,500 addressed to Chipotle and wrote “F*CK OFF” in the memo. He then posted the check in his personal tumblr.
We’ll have to see if Chipotle still moves forward with the lawsuit as they can still sue for additional damages.
H/T Gawker, Hollywood Reporter + Lead picthx rebloggy
