Remember Blink 182?

Despite only disbanding as recently as 2005 (apparently), this trio of punk-pop muppets were really big in the year 1999, which led many to believe that a global technogical meltdown at the turn of the century would have been preferable to hearing All The Small Things one more time. Alas, it wasn't to be, and album Enema Of The State (do you see what they did there? Do you?) went on to sell approximately sixty million billion trillion copies the world over.

You'd think, then, that the Blinksters would be a relatively chilled-out bunch these days, happy to kick back and watch the odd royalty cheque pop through the letterbox. Unfortunately, you'd be quite massively wrong – because the band's former drummer Travis Barker is mightily pissed off about something and he wants the whole wide world to know it. 

Barker's anger lies with energy drink Rockstar, who he claims wrongfully used his picture by publishing an image of him on their website "holding a can of one of Rockstar's beverages, and identifying him and his endorsement by name".

While Barker naturally seems like quite a bizarre, relatively low-key figure for a company to use as a figurehead – kind of like 'hey, I'm Crispin Mills from Kula Shaker, and I can't get enough of Findus Crispy Pancakes', or 'hi, I'm Brad Renfro and I just love Axa life insurance'* – a big old lawsuit is all set to go ahead.

Barker's lawyers are frothing that:

'… the company unjustly used his photo and image to endorse their product,
alleging invasion of privacy, unfair competition and misappropriating
his likeness to promote the product.'

Fair enough, but they also make the claim that Barker is "a prominent figure in the rock music world" - a statement that was either a) written eight years ago or b) pushed out there by the ballsiest legal attorney in the world.

Probably a bit similar to that Lionel Hutz character from The Simpsons, except with a love of rubbish Walmart 'punk' and a bright orange Californian skin-glow in place of that yellow Groening tinge.

Hecklerspray, on the other hand, would like it put on record that we would never endorse an energy drink such as Rockstar. Except to say that – should Blink 182 be announcing a comeback gig in your local area – you'd probably be able to run away faster if you downed five cans of the stuff.

Or possibly a bottle of delicious, delicious Lucozade (available from all good supermarkets, and some bad ones too) instead. 

Read More:

Blink 182 Man Files Suit Against Beverage Company – NME

* Too soon?