Chipotle Suing Singer Frank Ocean Over Unfinished Ad Campaign

Chipotle wants Frank Ocean to cough up the cash they paid him for an ad campaign the singer never finished.

The fast food chain reportedly joined forces with Ocean for an advertisement that would have featured the crooner singing a popular tune. Chipotle presented the guy with a video last year in hopes that he would help them out. For all of his hard work, he would receive $425,000.

According to Time, Chipotle handed over half of that payment while Ocean got to work in the studio. Unfortunately for the restaurant, the singer never produced the goods. Chipotle is now taking Frank to court.

Not surprisingly, the company feels that Ocean was “unjustly enriched” by the arrangement. However, the singer’s legal reps believe that Chipotle misled their client about the specifics of the ad campaign.

His attorneys said in a recent email:

“When Frank was asked to participate in this project, Chipotle’s representatives told him that the thrust of the campaign was to promote responsible farming. There was no Chipotle reference or logo in the initial presentation, and Chipotle told Frank that was an intentional element of the campaign. Frank was also promised that he’d have the right to approve the master and all advertising.”

Although the singer and Chipotle may have butted heads when it came to what would appear in the campaign, the reasoning doesn’t explain why Ocean didn’t return the money he was paid. After all, the restaurant didn’t receive anything in return for the cash.

TMZ reports that Chipotle wanted Ocean to sing “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in the proposed ad campaign. Since Frank ultimately balked at the idea of appearing in a Chipotle campaign that featured the company’s logo, Fiona Apple ended up getting the gig.

During a chat with Pitchfork last year, Apple suggested Ocean backed out of the Chipotle ad due to problems with his voice. However, it would appear that his issues had everything to do with the company’s logo.

Fiona explained:

“Chipotle was in a big rush and they initially wanted Frank Ocean, but he screwed up his voice. And they wanted to use ‘Pure Imagination,’ a song I wanted to do in a show when I was 18 but was too afraid to. I didn’t want Gene Wilder to be upset about that song being sung by some idiot. I thought that I had the best chance of doing it well. This is the absolute truth: The only person that I care what they think of the Chipotle commercial is Gene Wilder.”

What do you think about Chipotle suing Frank Ocean? Do you believe the singer should return the money he received for the ad campaign?

[Image via Featureflash / Shutterstock.com]