hootie & the filet o' blowfish

Um, do my eyes deceive me or did I just see that dude from Hootie & The Blowfish on TV wearing a purple cowboy outfit while plucking a gee-TAR and singing about a bacon cheeseburger?

Now I'm no fan of that band. In fact, I actively plotted their demise back in their miserable heyday. Regardless, I kinda feel bad for the Hootie dude. The man's been reduced to singing a jingle about charred processed "beef," for fuck's sake. And unlike, say, Wilford Brimley, he doesn't even get to announce who he is and inform us how much he likes and relies on the product in question. Instead, he just anonymously and obediently sings like the good Burger King bitch that he is.

My dreams of his miserable failure have come to fruition and honestly, it doesn't feel nearly as good as I once thought it would. Who woulda thunk I'd grow up to be so compassionate?

UPDATE: I found this in a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly. Not surprisingly, the Hootie Dude was unavailable for comment...

Hootie's Latest Is...A Burger Joint?
Darius Rucker stars in a new commercial hawking a new chicken sandwich by Leah Greenblatt

Hey, haven't we met that folksinging, poultry-craving cowboy before? Isn't that. . .Hootie? Indeed. Leaving behind his Blowfish, Darius Rucker is taking a solo turn in the new Burger King campaign, crooning an ode to the TenderCrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich. We're kind of getting a kick out of it, so we called BK headquarters to find out more. According to a spokesperson, not only is it Hootie under that ten-gallon hat, but the song he's strumming is a remake of the bluegrass classic ''Big Rock Candy Mountain'' (from O Brother, Where Art Thou?). The clip was directed by lensman/videographer David LaChapelle, whose surreal vision for Gwen Stefani's ''Rich Girl'' is in heavy rotation on MTV. So will Rucker be making more paeans to the Beef Monarch? The singer, say his reps, is in the studio and unavailable to comment. Have it your way, Hootie. Have it your way.