Another week, another round of celebrities bent out of shape with the big M. Last time it was Paul McCartney and his anger over some Beatles pictures hanging in a Liverpool McDonald’s. This time? Devo’s looking to crack that whip over a Happy Meal toy that bears a striking resemblance to their lost plastic bandmate.
“This New Wave Nigel doll that they’ve created is just a complete Devo rip-off and the red hat is exactly the red hat that I designed, and it’s copyrighted and trademarked,” says bass player Gerald Casale. The song the toy plays, says Casale, also sounds strikingly like a Devo tune.
New Wave Nigel was part of the American Idol line of Happy Meal toys that were available in the US earlier this year. He was joined by other anthropomorphizations of music genres like Disco Dave and Soulful Selma. “They didn’t ask us anything. Plus, we don’t like McDonald’s, and we don’t like American Idol, so we’re doubly offended.”
Lawsuit is underway. Unlike the McCartney thing, I think they’ve got a pretty solid reasion for being bent out of shape over this one.
I think i’m the only one that still remembers trying to dance to “whip it”
GO DEVO!
American Idol represents ALL that is wrong with America.
Seriously.