I’m the one who RULES! — Katie, NY
That declaration kicks off a “Chicks Who Rule” ad for Music Choice, a Pennsylvania-based provider of music and music videos to broadband outlets, and is accompanied by a picture of Brittanee Drexel, the Upstate New York teen who went missing in Myrtle Beach last year. In January searchers again fanned out across the Lowcountry looking for Brittanee, who vanished from motel room in April.
She was 17 at the time.
But that latest search for Brittanee came up empty, a disappointing repeat in a disappearance case marked by false leads and an absence of hard info. The case has maintained a strong pull on the Internet, however, with a new website popping up a few weeks ago to serve as a clearing house of information on the case. And just last month her family hired a private detective to work the case.
It is unclear if Music Choice, a joint effort of some of the biggest media corporations in the world including Microsoft, Sony, Motorola, Time Warner, and EMI, is unaware of that it is using the picture of a missing girl in a 15-second house ad. The picture Music Choice used has been in heavy rotation on fliers and in news stories since Brittanee’s disappearance.
It is also possible this is someone’s idea of a sick joke. What is a fact is that Music Choice’s TV ad is tainting the search effort for Brittanee by effectively branding her as “Katie” to thousands of unsuspecting eye-balls.
It would also be very interesting to learn what amount and to whom Music Choice paid any licensing fee for the use of Brittanee’s image. I cannot imagine the company could not scrape together a few hundred dollars for a legitimate model’s headshot, but Brittanee’s cruel morph into “Katie” argues otherwise.
Bonus Background: The adjacent screencap of the ad was taken last night from a Time Warner Cable feed of Music Choice on Demand. I hope to have full video of the “Chicks Who Rule” spot up shortly.
Update: As promised:
