Kanye West Draws PETA, Theraflu Ire Over New Single

"Defending" and "Kanye West" don't often go together in sentences as verb and direct object. But in this case, he may be batting .500 in terms of one party riding him needing to maybe calm the hell down.

Of all the possible combined foes, the hit-making producer and Grammy-nominated rapper's latest single has managed to piss off PETA and the makers of Theraflu in one fell swoop, E! Online reports. Theraflu manufacturers' representatives lashed out via TMZ Friday at the rapper's new single named after the over-the-counter cold and flu remedy, stating "We in no way endorse or approve of the references or use of the image and likeness of Theraflue in this matter."

It's the kind of tension over name-dropping that's understandable. We live in an era of overreaction and it's entirely foreseeable that, hip-hop being as lyrically controversial within the mainstream as it can sometimes be, a product with a family-friendly reputation might find its consuers being put off it by an association with someone as controversial as West can be. After all, we're often judged by the company we keep.

That being said, here's the lone time the lyrics reference the product at all:

"Don't talk to me 'bout style, n***a, I'll ma'fuckin' embarrass you/Talkin' 'bout clothes, I'll ma'fuckin' embarrass you/Hollin' 'bout some hoes, I'll ma'fuckin' embarrass you/Way too cold, I promise you'll need some Theraflu..."

Then it's (Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh) Get the Theraflu" repeated several times.

While the proximity to the words "n***a," "ma'fuckin'" and "hoes" probably made the company's public-relations team a little hot under the collar, this also falls under the category of being reasonable and realizing the actual usage is pretty damn harmless.

Oh, but there's more.

West was already probably bringing down the animal-rights zealots' rain of crazy enough as it was simply now being romantically linked with Kim Kardashian, the nutters' newly minted Public Enemy Number One. But when West rattled off "Tell PETA my mink is draggin' on the floor," well...

"What's draggin' on the floor is Kanye's reputation as a man with no empathy for animals or human beings," PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews told E! News via prepared statement. "He's a great musican but doesn't seem to have the fashion sense to design anything more than caveman costumes. We keep hoping that one day he'll find his heart and join evolved style icons - including Russell Simmons, Pink and Natalie Portman - who have dropped animal skins."

"Drops" them? But then there's just be more draggin' on the floor!

Oh. I see what you did there, Captain Crazy.

My apologies. Much like you, I took clever word-play far, far too literally.