Naturally, most people remember when that Doc Martens campaign featuring Kurt Cobain as an angel surfaced in 2007. Cobain, who had been dead for over ten years, was drawn into the fictional clouds, wearing his classic alternative-punk uniform of ripped jeans, a striped shirt, and a hint of eyeliner, but with a pair of Doc Martens in place of his signature Chucks. He was selling shoes from the afterlife, and he had no idea. Then, more campaigns popped up featuring deceased punk icons: Sid Vicious, Joey Ramone, and Joe Strummer. Maybe Doc Martens just said, “Fuck it, dead people don’t know what’s going on. They're dead, after all. They can’t control the living and we are living.”Unlike Cobain and the gang, Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch has protected himself from being manipulated into hocking tuna fish or short-shorts in the afterlife. Yauch, who passed away in May from salivary gland cancer just days after the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, specified in his will that his image, music, and any art he created could not be used in advertising. He also stated that his money, rights, and property—a reported $6.4 million—will be left in the trust of his wife and young daughter. Smart move.However, the question remains about collaboration: can his bandmates legally sell music they wrote together as a group? Yauch’s lawyer neglected to comment to the press.I think what Yauch did is smart. He had the foresight to protect himself even in the afterlife. He knew what he was worth, and he knew that his image (now somewhat of a vintage cool-marker of 90s hip-hop) could be used distastefully after he was gone. Who wants that for themselves or their kin? Could this be a new trend for iconic cultural figures who want to stay punk until they die? If Lennon, Gandhi, or Cobain had been hip to this concept, I feel as though they would have drawn up some protective paper work as well. Either way, only time will tell, but I think that Yauch may have started something intelligent here, proving, once again, that people can be majorly influential even in death.
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