Smells Like Uncomfortable Marketing

Making the rounds of video game websites and blogs is the above video from YouTube user Corporalgregg2, who recorded a few of the awkward things you can do with Kurt Cobain in Guitar Hero 5. Everything from imitating Flava Flav's trademark, "Yeah boy!" to four Kurt Cobain's performing a Megadeath song with invisible instruments.

My initial reaction is, "LOL! Look at Kurt Cobain being crazy!" However, as someone who knows a little bit about the life and death of Kurt Cobain, I can't help but feel eerily uncomfortable watching this. I'm sure when the marketing team pitched the estate of Kurt Cobain to try and have him in their game, part of the deal didn't include playing in the same band as a skeleton or singing high-pitched vocals to a funk song.

Part of the reason why Kurt Cobain is no longer with us is because he hated celebrity and the commercialism his music brought to him. He wanted to be seen in a certain light, and that not happening partially lead to his death. Ever since then, the legacy of Kurt Cobain has been fairly well protected.

So it comes as a bit of a surprise to see cyber Kurt Cobain in the video singing music from Bon Jovi and Stevie Wonder with an XBOX avatar and a skeleton. When the makers of Guitar Hero pitched this idea to the estate of Kurt Cobain, did they mention that this would be possible? If so, was the estate of Kurt Cobain cool with it?

I understand from a marketing perspective that having Kurt Cobain in your rock music game sounds like a good idea. However, giving users the ability to take him out of context doesn't seem very tasteful to the life and legacy of a deceased, iconic rock star that probably wouldn't have approved of this if he were still alive in the first place.