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Arcade Fire lends song to (Product) Red

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Arcade Fire lends song to (Product) Red
In a recent post on the band's website, Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler explained the band's reasoning behind lending on of their songs--"Rebellion (Lies)"--to the (PRODUCT)RED campaign, which seeks to raise money to fight the AIDS crisis in Africa.
As I'm sure everyone knows by now, a veritable who's who of major corporations have begun selling special red merchandise including the GAP, Apple, Motorola and American Express among others. A percentage of the profits then go towards treatment for AIDS sufferers, including the purchasing of anti-retroviral drugs.
So how did the Arcade Fire get involved in this corporate campaign? Butler explains:
"Having talked to all the people in charge of running the Red campaign and learning about how the whole thing works financially, I am convinced that something of this nature is the only way to get Americans to give large amounts of money to directly fight AIDS in Africa in a sustainable way."
Butler stresses that the band hasn't received a penny for the use of their song, and don't support many of the companies taking part in the campaign. They simply saw their opprtunity to help make a difference:
"We don't give a fuck about the Gap or American Express, and we are in no way endorsing their products, but as long as scientists are developing drugs that you can give to a HIV positive mother and her newborn baby to help stop the transmission of AIDS to her child, the money could be coming from the devil for all I care, as long as people are getting the medication."
You can read the entire message here.
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Arcade Fire
Product Red

I think they are absolutely right to do this and they shouldn't feel bad about it at all. Corporations rule the world, the least we can do is encourage and help them to do some good. I hope Common reads their message.

Matthew Gasteier

I went out and bought a bunch of khakis after seeing Common on that Gap commercial.

Dave Park

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