Casey Donovan's Coles ad is being called "cheap and tacky". It's time we lay off.

If you own a television, you have no doubt seen Casey Donovan’s ‘Coles Down Down’ ad, which first aired a few weeks ago.

For better or worse, we all know the song.

“Down down prices are down,” existed as a standard advertising jingle for approximately 18 seconds before (justified) parodies emerged.

There are big red hands. There are people excitedly dancing in a supermarket. The song itself is, I think it’s fair to say, repetitive.

Casey Donovan is the new face of the campaign, belting out the lyrics into a crystal-covered microphone, in a promotional red ball gown.

From her hair, to her lipstick, to her guitar, Donovan boasts Coles-red - the poster girl for one of Australia's largest supermarket chains.

But no sooner had the commercial hit our screens, than the criticism erupted on social media.

“So I just saw the Coles ad with Casey Donovan... I just burnt my house down with all the TVs in it,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“I love me some Casey Donovan but that Coles add [sic] is making me homicidal,” another said.

The new Coles ad featuring Casey Donovan makes me want to become self sufficient.

— theloneruckman (@theloneruckman) May 4, 2017

Casey Donovan actually puts me off buying food.

— Zero Tolerance (@AussieLoyalty) May 11, 2017

I'm not entirely humourless. I understand that there are some ads on TV that make you want to bang your head against a brick wall.

You are, of course, entitled to hold an opinion about an ad that dots every free to air show you choose to watch.

You are, absolutely, free to find it annoying.

But can we please stop using Casey Donovan as the butt of the joke?

Donovan is a 28-year-old performer who is attempting to make a living.

“It just looks so cheap and tacky and it’s terrible for her,” an industry insider told news.com.au earlier today.

They estimated that Donovan would have been paid between $20,000 and $30,000 for the commercial, and argue that "for an artist, it’s seen as a sell out."

So, because Donovan intends to make money from her skills and her profile, we accuse her of "selling out" - the worst thing an 'artist' can do.

Since Donovan's Australian Idol win 13 years ago, it seems she can't do anything right.

You disappear from the spotlight, and you're a failure. A one hit wonder. An awkward stain on our cultural memory.

It's revealed you work as an Uber driver, as was the case with Donovan, and you're a national joke. "Look where our Australian Idol winners are now!" runs the headline. "What a letdown," we laugh.

You attempt to make a comeback and it's even more pathetic. You're milking it. You're desperate. You're yesterday's news.

LISTEN: Laura Brodnik and Tiffany Dunk discuss the importance of crowning Casey Donovan the Queen of the Jungle on The Binge. Post continues below. 

So, what are her choices?

Just because Donovan happened to win a reality TV show, before we even knew what they meant, doesn't mean we have the right to make fun of her for the rest of her life.

She is a young woman who can sing, and like you or I, a woman whose life costs money.

We talk about a national job crisis, whilst simultaneously picking on a woman for working a job that we don't consider "cool" enough. When you're working in one of the most competitive industries in the country, you take what you can get. And sometimes it's an ad where you sing and dance.

If Donovan is a sell out, then we all are.

And like her, we should be proud of it.