As reported by Adcritic.com

Saatchi & Saatchi/London has a new print/poster campaign in the U.K. that cleverly employs four dead rock stars – Kurt Cobain, Sid Vicious, Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer – as Doc Martens endorsers. “We wanted to communicate that Dr. Martens boots are ‘made to last,’ ” explains writer Andrew Petch, “and we discovered that these idolized musicians wore them. Showing them still wearing their Docs in heaven dramatized the boots’ durability perfectly. And, as images, they feel very iconic.” As for the legal implications of enlisting the support of this particular fab four from beyond the grave, Petch says the images have been cleared for use in the U.K. only, in an arrangement with Corbis, supplier of the original photographs, which have been enhanced by photographer Dimitri Daniloff and retoucher Christophe Huet.

The Daily Swarm has since reported:

Airwair Ltd., the creators of Dr. Martens famous footwear, has fired its advertising agency, Saatchi and Saatchi London, in the midst of an ongoing uproar over a poster campaign featuring the images of deceased musicians wearing their shoes in heaven.

David Suddens, CEO of Dr. Martens’ parent company AirWair Ltd., told The Daily Swarm in a phone interview that the posters were never intended to see the light of day. “We said no. It was creative that was put to us, but we didn’t like it. It doesn’t represent the company at all.”

The firestorm began on May 14, when The Daily Swarm published the posters that feature punk icons Kurt Cobain, Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone, and Sid Vicious. The rockers images were retouched by noted French commercial artist Christophe Huet who placed them in heaven with steel-toed boots.

Statement from Dr. Martens:

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

DR. MARTENS REGRETS THE USE OF UNAUTHORISED IMAGES

Dr Martens is very sorry for any offense that has been caused by the publication of images showing dead rock icons wearing Dr Martens boots.

Dr Martens did not commission the work as it runs counter to our current marketing activities based on FREEDM, which is dedicated to nurturing grass roots creativity and supporting emerging talent.

As a consequence, Dr Martens has terminated its relationship with the responsible agency.

David Suddens
Chief Executive