Peter Hook is bemused by Disney's new JOY DIVISION-inspired T-shirt, insisting he "can appreciate the irony" after years of avoiding overt promotion as a young rocker.
Fans were outraged after Disney bosses began selling the garment, which features Mickey Mouse's silhouette in the iconic artwork of Joy Division's 1979 album Unknown Pleasures.
But bassist Hook is flattered by the design, although he admits he would have been infuriated by the association with Disney in the past.
He tells the Los Angeles Times, "I take it as a compliment. If I had a pound for every time someone bootlegged Joy Division, I'd be as rich as Disney. But it's interesting in a kitsch way. It's this cross between something very adult and this well-known image of childhood. I've heard it's sold out, so maybe it'll become a kind of urban legend...
"When Joy Division began, we didn't believe in doing promotion. We didn't do shirts, because we thought that cheapened the music. When you're young and idealistic, something like this would bother you. But in old age, you can appreciate the irony."