The Black Keys In A Pizza Hut Commercial? Not On Their Watch

posted in: Music News • Rock

There’s a lot of reasons why The Black Keys are one of the biggest rock bands in the world right now. Their crunchy, riff heavy and hook friendly jams are definitely a big part of it. Their clever music videos don’t hurt either. Finally, you’ve probably heard some of their songs in commercials. They’re ubiquitous. They’re everywhere.

But maybe The Black Keys are finding themselves in places they don’t want to be. Both members of the band, drummer Patrick Carney and singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach, and frequent Black Keys producer Danger Mouse, filed suit against Home Depot and Yum! Brand Foods (parent company of Pizza Hut).

The suits allege that two Black Keys songs, “Gold on the Ceiling” and “Lonely Boy,” were used in commercials without the band’s authorization. Bloomberg reports that lawyers for The Black Keys describe the use of the tracks as, “a brazen and improper effort to capitalize on plaintiffs’ hard-earned success.”

But do the Keys have a legal leg to stand on here? Here are the two commercials in question that are stuck up The Black Keys’ craw. What do you think…are these their tracks? Are they soundalikes? Does it matter?

Here is the ad for Ryobi power tools and Home Depot that allegedly uses “Lonely Boy.” The track can be heard here.

And here’s the spot from Pizza Hut that makes use of “Gold on the Ceiling,” according to The Black Keys’ complaint. For reference, the original can be heard here.