Let's discuss this Ashanti controversy

Ashanti - she of 'Always On Time' and 'Only U' fame - has caused quite a ruckus this week. In fact, her new music video and its accompanying online marketing campaign have sparked protests outside her record label HQ. Why? Because they're as bloody as a Wes Craven slasher flick.

The promo clip for her current single, 'The Way That I Love You', shows the singer exacting her revenge on an errant lover. Nothing unusual about that, you might think: maybe she keys his BMW or cuts a few holes in his favourite shirt?

Actually our 'Shan goes a bit further than that - she kills the no good cheating dog! We don't witness the murder itself, but her crime is spelled out in newspaper headlines, shots of angry Ashanti brandishing a knife and the liberal sprinkling of ketchup blood on her kitchen floor.

And there's more! A promotional e-card sent to Ashanti fans earlier this week featured a fake news story connecting the video to a "recent wave of violence in New Jersey". After clicking on the bogus bulletin, surfers were taken to a website where they could send gory e-greetings to their own cheating boyfriends.

The "greetings" were easy enough to customise: just select his misdemeanour (options included "playing me like a fool" and "suspected cheating"); choose your murder weapon and hit send. Ping! The useless sod receives an e-card showing his name splattered in blood on the wall.

Are these tactics grossly offensive, as the protesters would have us believe, or just good PR? From where we're sitting they seem like a bit of both. The e-card's certainly got people talking about 'The Way That I Love You' - a fairly unremarkable R&B ballad that flopped on the US charts - in the week that Ashanti's new album is released. If that isn't a bit of a result, we're not sure what is.

Unsurprisingly, the e-card has now been pulled, but the video for 'The Way That I Love You' appears for your viewing pleasure/horror below:



What do you think of Ashanti's new video and PR campaign? Is it sick or savvy? Use the space below to have your say.