Chad Kroger of Nickelback, the music industry’s most successful losers. (Photo courtesy the BBC)

Even the BBC is weighing in on a Finnish research study tracing animus Nickelus, the root psychological cause of why people love hating the Canadian rock group Nickelback, which has sold more than 50 million albums. If that’s hate, I’m sure more bands would love to be on the receiving end of some of it!

The study results were first reported stateside by Digital Music News, in the wake of a Canadian police chief’s threat that holiday DUI suspects would be punished by forcing them to listen to Nickelback in the ride to the station house. Apparently, that touched a chord — a more horrible fate, few could imagine.

The coverage was massive, and now so is the reporting on this study out of Finland, which traces distaste to the fact that: “this band has been so successful at mimicking the rock genre that they lost any sense of authenticity.”

The BBC story points out that The Beatles are the only foreign band whose sales have exceeded Nickelback’s in the US. Beautiful, losers!

The study is called “Hypocritical Bullshit Performed Through Gritted Teeth: Authenticity Discourses in Nickelback’s Album Reviews in Finnish Media.” Enjoy!