Time was, Jim Morrison had to resort to pulling out his Lizard King to get in trouble on stage. Now it’s come to this:

Country music’s “Redneck Woman” promises to keep her can of Skoal in her back pocket from now on. Tennessee’s attorney general had asked Gretchen Wilson not to pull out a can of smokeless tobacco during performances of her new song “Skoal Ring” because it glamorized tobacco use.

A warning letter said the routine might violate the 1998 tobacco settlement, which forbids tobacco ads targeting young people.

Attorney General Paul Summers said the singer’s representative apologized Friday and said Wilson would not use the Skoal can in concert again. It was not used at a Cincinnati concert Thursday night, his office said.

“I appreciate Ms. Wilson’s attitude,” Summers said in a news release. “I thank her very much. This quick and positive response speaks well of her as a professional artist, as a good citizen, as a parent and as a role model for youth.”

Yes, you are a good citizen and role model if you willingly forego an aspect of your persona when the Tennessee AG says to, and surrender your free expression to an agreement banning certain advertisements even if your behavior could only tenuously come under the ban and you aren’t a paid endorser. That’s just sad. WWBD?

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 27th, 2005 at 13:23 by danimal and is filed under National. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.