It involves chicken fingers, a fast food chain and a big pile of money. And why is Slipknot part of this tale?
The Bronx frontman Matt Caughthran has revealed that the Los Angeles punks were once approached to write a song for a Burger King ad campaign.
“When The Bronx were doing the second album, we had the opportunity to do a Burger King commercial for their Chicken Fries," Matt tells Kerrang!. "It was for something ridiculous like $120,000. We were supposed to write this song and they’d put masks on the band and no-one would know it was us. We didn’t feel comfortable about it so another band did it."
Eventually, Burger King released an advert in 2005, featuring a fake, masked rock band called Coq Roq, which you can watch below.
Burger King were later threatened with legal action by Slipknot for infringing on their trademark.
"It is obvious that the television advertising and website are designed to conjure up the image and persona of a live performance of Slipknot," reads a letter from their lawyers. "In addition to capturing the flavour and high energy intensity of a Slipknot performance, the members of Coq Roq wear masks that include a gas mask as worn by Slipknot's Sid Wilson, a kabuki style mask as worn by Slipknot's Joey Jordison and a mask with dreads as worn by Slipknot's Corey Taylor."
Burger King filed a countersuit, arguing that Coq Roq's attire was a parody of other masked bands – including Mushroomhead and GWAR – and both sides dropped their lawsuits.
And as for Matt, The Bronx vocalist feels a twinge of remorse for not lining his and his bandmate's pockets with some of that easy fast food cash.
"I could be talking to you right now from a Burger King castle with my fortune," he laughs. "That’s my biggest regret.”
