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Mike Skinner of The Streets: Cider endorsement don't come for free

11:23 a.m. · June 18, 2008 · by Ethan Stanislawski

Normally when you're a musician and your song gets used for an ad without your permission, your natural course of action would be to scream, rage, and sue the pants off whoever committed such a foul grievance. Mike Skinner's demands are slightly less taxing: he just wants free cider.

After the South African cider brand Hunters used a Streets song in a recent ad before Skinner gave his full approval, the man of The Streets came out with a semi-sarcastic post on his blog:

"I just got an email today telling me that my music is (still) being used by Hunters cider in South Africa. This reminded me that the last time they asked me I thought I asked for them to send me some product so I could test it out," he explained.

"I could not imagine the grief that my music was being used to represent a beverage that I didn't like the taste of. I'm hoping that one day I receive 10 palettes of silky sweet apple-based party lubricant that I can share with every person who enters my house for a year. Now that the Reebok trainers [Skinner endorsed the footwear range] have dried up, Example's got his Nando's deal, I want my South African cider affiliation."

Hunters should send him a case of cider immediately; they're lucky he's not trying to bankrupt the company with a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Skinner is in the process of finishing up the fourth Streets album in Los Angeles. No word on whether any cider will be forwarded to where's he's staying in LA. [NME]