The stunts Arcade Fire have pulled during the unconventional marketing campaign for their new album Everything Now are almost too many to count at this point. They sold Kendall and Kylie Jenner tour shirts and $109 fidget spinners, instituted a formal dress code for one of their shows, and most recently, made a strange joke about “removable jihadi beards.” In the end, the album topped the charts, but even the band realizes they may have gone too far, so now they’ve apologized for all their jokes… with another joke.
Arcade Fire statement re: Tannis Wright / social media. @pitchfork @stereogum @consequence @NME @RollingStone pic.twitter.com/ntFneFFanE
— Arcade Fire (@arcadefire) August 10, 2017
In a statement posted on Twitter by the band, they place the blame on Tannis Wright, a social media coordinator from Everything Now Corp, neither of which actually exist. They said that Wright’s techniques often went against their instincts, but they trusted him and left their comfort zones before realizing that he “crossed the line”:
“In recent weeks, it has come to light that Tannis crossed the line from marketing into outright fiction on more than one occasion, and has even offended some readers, fans, and websites. He wasn’t being truthful with the band or our fans at all times. […] The band will regain control of its own social channels, marketing and publicity and will no longer be working with Mr. Wright on this campaign.”
It’s tough to take anything Arcade Fire says these days at face value, so who knows what this means for the band’s public persona moving forward, if anything. Check out the full statement above and interpret it however you will.
