Doc Martens Pulls Kurt Cobain Ad

By: Shannon Gossage

The ad featured the late Cobain sitting on a cloud, wearing an angelic robe and Doc Martens. The tagline read: Dr. Martens. Forever. Love was reportedly "outraged" when she found out about the ad and called it "despicable." She also said that Cobain never would’ve agreed to it. She released a statement through her publicist that said, "Courtney had no idea this was taking place and would never have approved such a use. She thinks it’s outrageous that a company is allowed to commercially gain from such a despicable use of her husband’s picture." There are reportedly other similar ads that feature the Sex Pistol’s Sid Vicious and the Ramone’s Joey Ramone.

The ads were reportedly only to run in the United Kingdom and it has been reported that British laws allow companies to use images of deceased celebrities without permission from their estates, unlike American law where it is prohibited. The company decided to pull the ad and issued a public apology to Love. Dr. Martens CEO David Suddens reportedly said, "We are really, really, really sorry. We do think that it is offensive. We made a mistake. My message to Courtney Love is: This is something we shouldn’t have been doing." He added, "I wasn’t even aware of it. I was still unaware until [Wednesday]. When I found out what happened, I fired [the agency]. We never should have done that. It’s not a campaign we want to be associated with."

Saatchi & Saatchi, the agency behind the questionable ad campaign, released a statement Thursday that read, "We believe the ads are edgy, but not offensive. We regret that the controversy has led Dr. Martens to terminate the contract with Saatchi & Saatchi." Love and Cobain were married in 1992 and had a daughter, Frances Bean. Cobain killed himself in 1994.