Our email boxes have been blowing up about this for the past week, but until the BBC and Billboard reported that it actually had legs I just thought it was another ridiculous Internet campaign.

The campaign is an online effort to get Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 hit “Killing in the Name” to grab the top spot on the U.K.’s Christmas Singles chart, a spot that’s been dominated by winners of the “X Factor” TV talent show (similar to American Idol) for the past four years. As of right now the RATM classic actually holds a 10% margin over Joe McElderry’s cover of Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb,” which occupies the number 2 spot at the moment.

While the fact that a RATM song is a serious competitor — let alone the current leader — is pretty amazing, it seems unlikely that Zach, Tom and the Ragers will be able to hold out. McElderry’s song was only released digitally after his victory in the X Factor final at midnight this past Sunday, giving it less time to rack up sales for this week’s chart than Rage Against The Machine, and a physical CD containing the McElderry track will be released tomorrow (Wednesday). Still, I’ve always loved Rage Against the Machine — especially the 1992 self-titled album from which “Killing in the Name” comes — and I’ll always root for just about anyone over more Simon Cowell-shepharded tripe.

The real winner here is Sony BMG, the company that owns the rights to recordings of both artists in the UK. Score one for the big boys upstairs.

-VN