Well, it didn’t take long for the Air Force Reserve to hear that the White Stripes called them out with a posting on the Third Man Records homepage Monday afternoon. Not only have they abruptly pulled the Super Bowl commercial from television and their website less than a day after Jack White and company claimed it plagiarized their hit song “Fell in Love with a Girl,” but now the tune’s composer, producer, and the Air Force Reserve have all issued statements denying the allegations.
“It’s my responsibility,” songwriter Kem Kraft told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m the one who composed the music. And I had no idea it was like that [song].” Later, he added, “I went to the website and I go, ‘Yeah, that kinda sounds close.’ [But] I don’t even listen to those guys.”
Kraft says that he would like to apologize to Jack White and tell him he “had no intention whatsoever of copying,” adding that he would pay back his compensation ($2,000) for the song in an effort to make amends.
Meanwhile, the Air Force Reserve Command issued a press release (via Pitchfork), insisting that they had no knowledge of the similarities between the music in their ad and the White Stripes’ song.
And finally, Fast Forward Productions (the company which the Air Force seems to be laying blame on) sent out representative Mike Lee for their own denial: “I’ve heard of the White Stripes but I’m not a listener of theirs,” he said (via Antiquiet). “I had no idea there was similarity until after the fact.”