Darth Vader: Corporate Lapdog

With news this week of a black Darth Vader burger to be served in France in conjunction with the release of The Phantom Menace 3D, this video and its accompanying essay are timely. The problem, of course, is that this video and its accompanying essay are perpetually timely, as Darth Vader and the gang are constantly being shilled out to sell burgers, noodles, cars, cell phones, and just about anything else.

It's worth reading the comments to the essay. One of the commentators claims to have worked on the Currys PC ads and says that Vader's likeness was used in exchange for a donation by Currys to a charity. If true, it's nice but it doesn't change the main problem I have with using Vader's likeness in such ways, but I won't go into all that again because I've said it all before.

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