Somehow in between getting into fights with Chris Brown, Frank Ocean managed to find time to do a little television work for Chipotle.? He was hired to do a cover of Willy Wonka’s “Pure Imagination” to be played during a commercial promoting responsible farming, and took a big fat check to do so.?
But then Ocean got all huffy about Chipotle wanting to advertise that they were the ones behind the commercial, and decided not to deliver the song.? Chipotle had to get another singer to do the job, and of course, want their money back from Ocean.
Chipotle has been on a “Look how good we are!”?PR kick.? They really want people to associate them more with fresh homegrown food done by local farmers more than with their ability for people to expand their waistline by using a quesadilla as a burrito wrapping.? One of the ways they are going about achieving this goal is with some commercials showing the perks of responsible farming. In order to attract even more attention to their cause, they decided to hire someone famous to sing an updated version of “Pure Imagination” during one of their commercials.
So they hired Frank Ocean for the job.? They paid Ocean $212,500 to make the song, and would give him another $212,500 once the song was delivered.? Because paying someone half a million dollars to sing a?damn song?when you are trying to convince regular ol folks to pay $6 a pound for organic local chicken breast makes a ton of sense.?? Anyway, Frank took that check, immediately deposited it with his Chase app on his phone, and then took his sweet time fulfilling his end of the deal.? After seeing a rough edit of the commercial his song would be playing during, apparently Ocean got his panties all in a bunch that Chipotle dared to show their logo at the very end.? So on the point of “principle” Ocean refused to give the company his recordings.
Uh, Ocean knows he was hired by a company to sing a song for one of their commercials, and he gets mad that they want to advertise?? That makes a?whole lot of no sense, Frank. You think some multi billion dollar corporation is going to spend a ton of money and time on any investment where they don’t get a little reach around in return?? Frank Ocean of all people should know all about the reach arounds.
Well, Chipotle ended up hiring Fiona Apple to do the song, because the royalties from that one pedophilic music video only lasts so long.? They also threatened Ocean with a lawsuit for running off with their money.? So what does a mature grown ass man do when he knows his ass would lose in court?? He gives the money back.? What does a butthurt famous man do?? He takes a picture of the check and posts it on Tumblr (side note- who the fuck uses Tumblr for anything other than gifs of Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston?).
The “Fuck Off” in the memo part was a nice touch.? You really told them, Frank!? Now just take a selfie of yourself at Taco Bell eating a Chalupa Supreme to really rub the salt in!
Chipotle, for its part, isn’t stooping down to Ocean’s level, although they did totally call him out for being a fucking LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!
“If/when we get a check from Frank, we should be able to close the books on this. Right now, all we have is a photo online.”
Well, you also a commercial with a very angsty version of Willy Wonka’s LSD song, so there’s that.