In what's shaping up to be a battle of the American icons of different generations, the venerable A&P grocers are suing YouTube, sort of.
More specifically, they have filed a $1 million suit against two former employees who created a parodic rap video called "Produce Paradise," which plays like a cross between "Clerks" and...well, it's pretty much like "Clerks."
In the video, the two rappers mock their former job, make disparaging claims, and even appear to urinate on some of the vegetables. Is A&P right to try to put "Produce Paradise" in the freezer section, or is this yet another circumstance where a company's attempt to protect its corporate image will only result in free publicity for aspiring comedian-rappers?
(Warning: there's some profanity)
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A&P Sues 'Produce Paradise' Video Rappers
Posted Aug 30th 2007 11:21AM by Ben Greenman
Filed under: Video, Comedy, Controversy
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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.
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Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 2)
16. Stop trying to be black and sing country rock, dudes!
lllllllllllllll at 2:44PM on Sep 1st 2007
17. Have all of you forgotten what it's like to be young and have to work a crappy job and take abuse all day from employers and customers? Calm down, kids at play!
So what if they get cred from being on youtube, my daughter did a play in London with a famous American actor, two actor play, MacBeth. Later she finds out there was a dvd made and she did not recieve apenny from the profits. I did not raise my daughters to be litigious I raised them to believe in Karma. You all realize what a bitch that can be!
rhodalee at 4:04PM on Sep 1st 2007
18. I'll bet the immigrants they hire to do them will do their jobs better and for less, without any bananas hanging out their flies, sticking it to the Man, much less attempt to "rap".
Yew Nuser at 9:27PM on Sep 1st 2007
19. Immigrants do much more, much better than alot of us Americans...........and without the pissing and moaning.
rhodalee at 10:54AM on Sep 2nd 2007
20. This stuff is hilarious. I'm sorry, but it is.
First off, if you really think he is urinating in the box, you are an idiot. I don't think anyone would really do it. second off, there is a good chance that they were throwing that out anyways.
Next, the lawsuit is utterly useless. Sueing a bunch of kids who made a video? Seriously, if it wasn't for the A&P hats, A&P would have never noticed.
A&Pis really stupid if this isn't just a PR stunt.
Rob at 6:28PM on Sep 2nd 2007
21. I was very surprised to see this story because I thought that the A&P chain had been liquidated five or ten years ago. A half century ago, A&P executives committed two major blunders from which the company never recovered: One, they planned their future expansions based on the theory that suburbia was just a passing fad, and two, they made a commitment to their private label brands at the exact moment when the national brands began heavily advertising on TV. A&P is suing the performers of this lightweight rap number because it needs all the publicity it can get -- positive or negative -- to stay in business.
hmsboston at 10:57AM on Sep 3rd 2007
22. Dear Max Entropy;
In fact, I am 'forced' to work at A&P--as a second job. I am forced by an economy that makes it impossible to get by without one. I am forced by the fact that as a divorced man (not my idea) I pay child support and, being partial to living indoors must have such a second job so as to not need to decide between putting gas in my car or food in my stomach!
What you are overlooking is that employment is a not a privilege but a right. This idea that you have that anyone mistreated by their employer should just quit is ridiculous. Using that standard, no employer should ever be held accountable for racism, sexism or antisemitism. After all, nobody is 'forced' to work for anyone, right? You can't go around treating employees as 'disposable assets' (an actual quote from an executive), and think that you're not going to foster some malice.
Keith J. Mohrhoff at 7:27AM on Sep 3rd 2007
23. Hey Ben- Have you seen the latest Obama YouTube Video? Its called Obama on the Run--its hillary and obama arguing about who is the better candidate to the tune of "anything you can do I can do better". Its hysterical. Please check it out and if you like it maybe you want to feature it in your blog?
You can get to it on http://Snide.tv or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKe1gUgX5do
SnideTV at 9:42AM on Sep 3rd 2007