Following the long, bizarre rollout of Everything Now, Arcade Fire have seemingly regained control of their social media and apologized to fans.
In the lead-up to the latest LP release, the band concocted a fake brand management company called Everything Now Corp. to issue controversial concert dress codes, diva-like demands on the set of late-night TV shows, preposterous merch like fidget spinners and knock-off Jenner T-shirts, and even fake news stories about scrapped ideas like "kama sutra gummy bears," "glow stick walking sticks" and "removable jihadi beards."
Now the band seem to maybe actually be bringing the divisive campaign to an end, placing the blame on a social media coordinator for the fictional corporation by the name of Tannis Wright.
In a new statement issued via Twitter, Arcade Fire admit that while they "didn't agree" with all of Wright's unusual marketing tactics, "we had internally agreed to try some things this time around that we might not have tried in the past."
They go one further to admit that Wright "crossed the line from marketing into outright fiction" and "has even offended some readers, fans and websites."
Claiming that "contractual obligations" have been untangled, the band say that they will no longer be working with Wright and have officially regained control of their own social channels, marketing and publicity.
Then again, they also sign off with a nod to their upcoming "Infinite Content Tour," which is, of course, still sponsored by Everything Now.
Read the full message from the band below.
Exclaim! recently spoke to Arcade Fire member Richard Reed Parry about the controversial marketing tactics, and although he admitted it was "obnoxious and noisy," he maintains that it's done "a good job of reflecting aspects of culture that are noisy and bombastic at this point in time."
UPDATE (8/14, 10:30 a.m. EDT) Speaking to the Globe and Mail, frontman Win Butler said that the social media campaign behind Everything Now was intended to be done "with a sense of humour." He also said that some of the fake news content and social media posts were created with some of his favourite writers.
"I think if you don't approach things with a sense of humour, you may be missing 99 per cent of life," he added.
Frontman Win Butler, meanwhile, made a personal decision earlier this week to take a break from Twitter altogether — though he's already returned to the platform to bid Tannis farewell.
In the lead-up to the latest LP release, the band concocted a fake brand management company called Everything Now Corp. to issue controversial concert dress codes, diva-like demands on the set of late-night TV shows, preposterous merch like fidget spinners and knock-off Jenner T-shirts, and even fake news stories about scrapped ideas like "kama sutra gummy bears," "glow stick walking sticks" and "removable jihadi beards."
Now the band seem to maybe actually be bringing the divisive campaign to an end, placing the blame on a social media coordinator for the fictional corporation by the name of Tannis Wright.
In a new statement issued via Twitter, Arcade Fire admit that while they "didn't agree" with all of Wright's unusual marketing tactics, "we had internally agreed to try some things this time around that we might not have tried in the past."
They go one further to admit that Wright "crossed the line from marketing into outright fiction" and "has even offended some readers, fans and websites."
Claiming that "contractual obligations" have been untangled, the band say that they will no longer be working with Wright and have officially regained control of their own social channels, marketing and publicity.
Then again, they also sign off with a nod to their upcoming "Infinite Content Tour," which is, of course, still sponsored by Everything Now.
Read the full message from the band below.
Arcade Fire statement re: Tannis Wright / social media. @pitchfork @stereogum @consequence @NME @RollingStone pic.twitter.com/ntFneFFanE
— Arcade Fire (@arcadefire) August 10, 2017
Exclaim! recently spoke to Arcade Fire member Richard Reed Parry about the controversial marketing tactics, and although he admitted it was "obnoxious and noisy," he maintains that it's done "a good job of reflecting aspects of culture that are noisy and bombastic at this point in time."
UPDATE (8/14, 10:30 a.m. EDT) Speaking to the Globe and Mail, frontman Win Butler said that the social media campaign behind Everything Now was intended to be done "with a sense of humour." He also said that some of the fake news content and social media posts were created with some of his favourite writers.
"I think if you don't approach things with a sense of humour, you may be missing 99 per cent of life," he added.
Frontman Win Butler, meanwhile, made a personal decision earlier this week to take a break from Twitter altogether — though he's already returned to the platform to bid Tannis farewell.
Goodluck Tannis, @EverythingNowCo I would say it's been a pleasure, but I've never met you. You leave behind an outrage shaped hole 😥 pic.twitter.com/oARCyf7Jkk
— win butler (@DJWindows98) August 11, 2017
