Selling out, or just selling?

As marketers, you will be aware that the key to everything is marketing – at least, that’s what the agency tells you. “Everything” includes, it seems, punk rock, which the Diary thought was usually in the key of E. Not so.

Those aged hooligans The Damned have appointed Huddersfield-based agency Propaganda to “tap the youth-oriented Nu-Punk music culture – currently the preserve of American bands such as Blink 192, Greenday and Offspring.”

According to Propaganda managing director Julian Kynaston, the agency’s aim is to: “Tell people that there’s a home-grown band that possesses raw energy, plays great music and puts on breathtaking live shows. Not only that, they also started it all.”

So watch out, punk fans, The Damned are here to stay, and rather than having backing singers, this time they have the backing of a six-figure marketing budget.