Ono sells out Lennon’s ‘Real Love’

Yoko Ono's done it again. In a move sure to annoy diehard fans of her late husband John Lennon, Ono has sold Lennon's rare home recording of Real Love for use in a TV commercial by the American chainstore J C Penney. The Christmas-themed spot, which features a little girl building a space ship to visit Santa, began airing on Sunday night in the US. Ad agency Saatchi and Saatchi reportedly handled the deal directly with Ono.

Since Ford used Help to help sell cars in 1985, the Beatles have had their songs repeatedly licensed for commercials. However, the songs are re-recorded by other artists. In 1987, the year Nike used Revolution to sell shoes, Apple Records sued to stop Capitol Records from selling the Beatles' own versions of their songs to shill products.

But that doesn't stop Ono from selling songs Lennon sang as a solo artist. Lennon recorded Real Love as a demo on a handheld recorder in 1979, but it never appeared on an album until after his death. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr later added their musical input to the song in 1995 as part of The Beatles Anthology.

Ono is still blamed by many Beatles for the break-up of the band in 1970. McCartney himself has suggested that she came between him and his songwriting partner Lennon. Over the years the relationship between Ono and McCartney has been contentious, with the two battling over songwriting credits and other matters.

As the heir of Lennon's estate, Ono also controls the rights to his image - even sanctioning an action figure depicting the former Beatle in his 'New York years'.