The Black Keys Turned Down £200,000 Commercial - Noise11.com
The Black Keys photo by Ros O'Gorman

The Black Keys photo by Ros O'Gorman

The Black Keys Turned Down £200,000 Commercial

by Andrew Tijs on December 5, 2011

in News

Dan and Pat from the Black Keys admit to knocking back £200,000 for a commercial in their early years.

The Black Keys

The Black Keys

The Black Keys spoke to Canada’s Studio Q and admitted that as struggling musicians they were offered £200,000 to license their music for a UK mayonnaise commercial… and they turned it down.

Pat Carney and Dan Auerbach were discussing the idea of selling out, since they have regularly licensed their music to advertisements, television shows and videogames.

They revealed that a company offered them the money at a time they were touring around in the crappy minivan that appears on the cover of their latest album El Camino.

Pat admits that at the time, “We had, maybe, $2000 in our checking account”. They and their manager at the time worried about it not being a “good look” to accept the deal.

Dan says he regretted that they worried about what people would think of them.

“The reason why we turned it down was, look, our parents are middle-class, they live in Akron [Ohio], they work all year long,” he said, “Dan’s mum is a school teacher, my dad works at a newspaper, they work all year long, they work their asses off. They got upset with us when we told them we didn’t take the money. Coz it’s crazy.”

“It’s, like, four years of their salary,” Dan chips in.

Pat continues, “And when you start making decisions based on…” “What some blogger thinks,” Dan laughs. “That went to Bard College or Oberlin,” Pat shrugs.

They then had a good laugh about the fact that they love mayonnaise and went on to reveal that they’ve also turned down an offer from Hummer.

Check out the interesting conversation below.

Related Posts

Marlon Williams by Mary Boukouvalas
‘Marlon Williams: Two Worlds – Ngā Ao E Rua’ will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival

The Marlon Williams documentary ‘Marlon Williams: Two Worlds – Ngā Ao E Rua’ will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August.

June 5, 2025
Frank Beard Returns To ZZ Top

Frank Beard is back in ZZ Top after a few months off for health issues.

May 30, 2025
Keb Mo and Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal And Keb’ Mo’ Release Second TajMo Album

Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ have released their second TajMo album since 2017. ‘Room On The Porch’ is the first record together for the two blues legends since ‘TajMo’ in 2017.

May 23, 2025
Steve Miller Band perform at the Deni Blues and Roots Festival. Photo by Ros O'Gorman
Steve Miller To Receive Les Paul Spirit Award

Announcement: The Les Paul Foundation, whose mission is to honor and share the life, spirit and legacy of Les Paul through generations has announced the annual Les Paul Spirit Award in partnership with Gibson Gives, the philanthropic division of Gibson. The prestigious award will be presented to legendary musical artist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Steve Miller on Monday, June 9, 2024 at 6:30pm CT at a private ticketed event held at the Gibson Garage Nashville located at 209 10th Ave S, Suite 209 in downtown Nashville, TN. The event will take place on what would have been Les Paul’s 110th birthday, and marks the fourth anniversary of the Gibson Garage Nashville.

May 21, 2025
Kutcha Edwards and Cash Savage
Kutcha Edwards and Cash Savage To Play One Night Only Together In Melbourne

Kutcha Edwards will perform with Cash Savage & The Last Drinks for one night only in Melbourne in June.

May 14, 2025
ZZ Top Without Dusty and Frank Must Be Bittersweet for Billy Gibbons

It must be a strange feeling for Billy Gibbons to have to celebrate 50 years of ZZ Top on tour without his co-founders and best friends Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. The good news is that Gibbons is continuing the legacy of one of America’s greatest Blues-Rock bands.

May 8, 2025
Samantha Fish Photo credit Doug Hardesty
Samantha Fish ‘Paper Doll’ Release Means Some Setlist Sacrifices

Samantha Fish is back on the road heading through Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri this week but with the new album ‘Paper Doll’ out now for 2025, Samantha has had to make a few sacrifices to the setlist to include the new music.

May 5, 2025