Post by The End on Nov 14, 2007 13:30:54 GMT
Yoko Ono has sold John Lennon’s rare home recording of "Real Love" to JCPenney for a commercial.
The spot began airing on Sunday night during ABC’s "Brothers & Sisters" before JCPenney could even make the announcement.
The Beatles have had their songs licensed for commercials in the past, but with the rare exception of perhaps "Revolution" years ago, they never have allowed master recordings out. The songs are always re-recorded.
Ad agency Saatchi and Saatchi handled the deal, I’m told, with Ono directly. The much-disliked widow of Lennon has sold a number of items under her late husband’s name over the years, including glasses, art and an action figure. But using a rare, acoustic home recording — and a beautiful, haunting one at that — as the Christmas song for a department store seems particularly greedy.
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Ono, who should be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, prides herself on being a "citizen of the world" who advocates peace. For years she’s promoted her own charity, The Spirit Foundation. But a check of the Spirit Foundation’s recent federal tax filings shows that Ono does a lot less for charity than one might have supposed.
I know I always thought she did a lot more, given that — because Lennon died — Ono as his heir receives a larger portion of his and Paul McCartney’s songwriting royalties.
But here’s the breakdown. From 2000 through 2005, Ono’s Spirit Foundation gave away only $2.6 million — a fraction of her enormous income. In 2005-2006, her donations were: $239,000 to Foster Plan Japan (to build school classrooms in China and Africa); $15,000 to Bailey House in New York City for people living with AIDS; $10,000 to a school in Harlem; and $30,000 to a small Los Angeles charity called Real Medicine Foundation.
Ono also recently gave Amnesty International the rights to two dozen post-Beatle Lennon songs for an album of "covers" by other artists ranging from REM and U2 to lesser-known names. The money goes to AI’s "Save Darfur" campaign, but it’s not clear how much has been derived since Warner Music, the issuing label, has kept the project a secret.
Still, the small cash outlay is a little surprising. While no one would question Ono’s generosity to these groups, it also seems like a few are missing. All this time I would have assumed Yoko Ono was giving money directly to Amnesty International, for example, and Greenpeace, as well as to record industry charities such as T.J. Martell and MusiCares.
How about a worthy cause such as Elton John’s AIDS Foundation, Sting and Trudie Styler’s Rainforest Foundation or a New York charity, for example, the Robin Hood Foundation? But maybe that’s what she’ll do with the JCPenney money. You never know.
The spot began airing on Sunday night during ABC’s "Brothers & Sisters" before JCPenney could even make the announcement.
The Beatles have had their songs licensed for commercials in the past, but with the rare exception of perhaps "Revolution" years ago, they never have allowed master recordings out. The songs are always re-recorded.
Ad agency Saatchi and Saatchi handled the deal, I’m told, with Ono directly. The much-disliked widow of Lennon has sold a number of items under her late husband’s name over the years, including glasses, art and an action figure. But using a rare, acoustic home recording — and a beautiful, haunting one at that — as the Christmas song for a department store seems particularly greedy.
RelatedColumn Archive
Yoko Ono Did Sell Out John Lennon to JCPenneyBritney's Over, Here Comes Alicia vs. Celine'Lions' Redford and Streep Not Fond of 'Lamb' Cruise?Rosie O'Donnell, MSNBC: No DealTwo Rosies for the Price of OneFull-page Fox411 Archive
Ono, who should be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, prides herself on being a "citizen of the world" who advocates peace. For years she’s promoted her own charity, The Spirit Foundation. But a check of the Spirit Foundation’s recent federal tax filings shows that Ono does a lot less for charity than one might have supposed.
I know I always thought she did a lot more, given that — because Lennon died — Ono as his heir receives a larger portion of his and Paul McCartney’s songwriting royalties.
But here’s the breakdown. From 2000 through 2005, Ono’s Spirit Foundation gave away only $2.6 million — a fraction of her enormous income. In 2005-2006, her donations were: $239,000 to Foster Plan Japan (to build school classrooms in China and Africa); $15,000 to Bailey House in New York City for people living with AIDS; $10,000 to a school in Harlem; and $30,000 to a small Los Angeles charity called Real Medicine Foundation.
Ono also recently gave Amnesty International the rights to two dozen post-Beatle Lennon songs for an album of "covers" by other artists ranging from REM and U2 to lesser-known names. The money goes to AI’s "Save Darfur" campaign, but it’s not clear how much has been derived since Warner Music, the issuing label, has kept the project a secret.
Still, the small cash outlay is a little surprising. While no one would question Ono’s generosity to these groups, it also seems like a few are missing. All this time I would have assumed Yoko Ono was giving money directly to Amnesty International, for example, and Greenpeace, as well as to record industry charities such as T.J. Martell and MusiCares.
How about a worthy cause such as Elton John’s AIDS Foundation, Sting and Trudie Styler’s Rainforest Foundation or a New York charity, for example, the Robin Hood Foundation? But maybe that’s what she’ll do with the JCPenney money. You never know.