Why Frank Ocean Just Told Chipotle to F*ck Off

Chipotle recently unveiled their vegan burrito. But it seems not everyone was pleased.

At about the same time, Chipotle announced they were suing singer Frank Ocean for failing to return an advance payment after he backed out of an advertising deal. Ocean struck back, returning the money and adding a personal flourish with an all caps "FUCK OFF." Now you know what to do with that "Notes" spot on your rent check.

Image Credit: Frank Ocean

Chipotle has been making a major promotional push lately. The company's biggest success was the animated "Scarecrow" ad that boasted the company's anti-factory farming values. Ocean's initial desire to be involved was understandable — in the tough environment that is today's pop market, getting a song in a major ad campaign provides crucial exposure and valuable funds to a young artist (see above), so it's not surprising Ocean took the deal. It's also sensible for an artist to want creative control, especially for a more inventive advertisement.

So, while it's hard to imagine that any company would actually hand him $400,000 with no strings attached, Ocean felt betrayed by the Chipotle logo on the Chipotle ad.

Ocean believes he was supposed to get the last word on the animated spot. (You can see the offensive logo at the end of Fiona Apple's rendition.) According to Chipotle, he failed to record the promised song, and then added insult to injury by not returning the money.

Ocean released his critically acclaimed major-label debut, Channel Orange, in 2012, and there's rumored to be another album coming out this summer. He's been keeping busy in other ways, too: He helped Beyoncé on her surprise release, and he developed another song for advertising purposes — "Hero," recorded with Diplo and former members of the Clash for Converse.

But despite the ad push, Ocean has a history of tangling with the Man: He gave away his first solo release, Nostalgia, Ultra, for free when his label refused to put it out. Hopefully he'’ll record his version of "Pure Imagination" and leak that, too.