After 20 years of mean-spirited jokes, articles about why people hate them, and futile attempts to translate Chad Kroeger’s grunts into a legible “hynnuh” or “hnnyeeeah,” Nickelback has apparently had enough. Representatives for the Canadian band have reportedly reached out to the Kensington Police Department—which recently advertised that it was going to punish drunk drivers with a cassette playback of the band’s third album, Silver Side Up—and asked them to kindly knock it off.
TMZ cites a Kensington Police spokesperson, who said that the band contacted the department and asked that the post be removed. That story contradicts a post on the Service’s own Facebook page, though—written by the same officer who wrote the initial joke, apparently—saying that they reconsidered their goof after seeing the way the “Nickelback sucks” portion of the story started outweighing the “Please don’t drink and drive” message.
In the surprisingly heartfelt apology, the officer says that they were the one who reached out to the four members of Nickelback, and that they’d been feeling bad about the media beating the band had been taking since the story broke world-wide. “How could I, later this week, walk into an elementary school classroom in uniform and try to teach the kids that bullying is wrong when I was guilty of the exact thing?” the officer asked, while also noting “We are better than that.” The original post has since been removed, and it actually sounds like the band and the police department might be working on whipping up an anti-drunk driving message of its own. (Possible lyrics: “This is how I remind you / to just take a cab.”) Which, admittedly, isn’t as fun or funny as mocking Nickelback, but might potentially save more lives.