Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on the use of Ani's
song "32 Flavors" in a promotional spot for the NFL which will run for
5 weeks beginning December 12. Quite a few people have contacted
us regarding the spot, and to be honest we've been a little surprised
by the reaction. When the NFL approached us about using the song
to illustrate a 30-second montage of big burly guys in #32 jerseys, we
thought the whole idea was pretty funny-and an unexpected new
context for the song, and a great, if accidental, opportunity to inject a
little babe-ishness into the testosterone-fueled world of football. (By
the way, the same song appears in a very different context in the new
film "Better than Chocolate.") As you probably know, Buffalo is a big
football town (everything else comes to a grinding halt when our team
makes its annual trek to the Superbowl), and lots of folks here at the
label- women and men alike, and lefties to boot - love the game. (The
entire staff, football fans and non-fans alike, laughed out loud when
we first heard the idea.)
All of that was going through our heads when we agreed to let the
League use the song. Yes, the NFL is a huge corporation, and yes,
we're aware of studies about the correlation between televised sports
and domestic abuse. But hey, sometimes the interconnections
between art, politics, and commerce get a little complicated-in fact,
most of the time they are all tangled up together. If you really want to
find contradictions between the lyrics of Ani's songs and some of the
actions she and her record company take, we can't stop you: lord
knows you'll probably find plenty, because contradictions are at the
heart of daily life-every life-in the era of capitalism. As you've surely
noticed, Ani has a finely-honed taste for irony and a sharp sense of
humor inherent in her politics, and we encourage you to engage the
same resources in yourself when watching the spot. As the song
goes, we are all "32 flavors and then some."
Thanks again for contacting us.
Ron E.
RBR Minister of Communications