Local H Screwed By Mountain Dew
http://www.theroc.org/updates/local-h.html
by Brad Gore
Corporate censorship ran rabid in Rutland, VT when Mountain Dew, the sponsor of a tour featuring recording artists Local H, pulled the payment plug after a show at the Killington Ski Resort on March 13. Apparently a law forbidding the use of profanity during outdoor concerts was broken, an unconstitutional law we might add. Mountain Dew has refused to pay the band, even though no arrests were made. Furthermore, Mountain Dew has called ahead to several of Local H's future concert venues and warned them about the band's behavior.
The song in question is "High-Fiving MF", where use of the word 'mother-fucker' is obviously indicated and should have been known to Mountain Dew before a contract was signed. We at ROC feel that content restrictive policies of sponsors like this will become an ever increasing concern for the music industry as corporate tour sponsorship becomes more prevalent. Bands should thoroughly investigate any restrictive practices by potential corporate sponsors before signing any contracts and be sure to reject any deals where they have to sell their free speech rights.
Please take the time to contact PepsiCo, Inc., manufacturer of Mountain Dew, you can contact the Board of Directors at the following address:
1 Pepsi Way
Somers, New York 10589
(914) 767-6000
All E-Mail can be directed to PepsiCo@bestworld.com. Please remember to let the Board of Directors know your opinion on the lack of respect for the free speech of the artist shown by Mountain Dew in this situation.
Let Mountain Dew know they shouldn't force the artist to run material through a corporate 'decency' filter while performing. Be sure to let them know that we as music fans will be forced to no longer purchase their products as long as censorship is standard procedure when sponsoring tours.
You can also visit the Local H Official Home Page and drop a line to the band at http://www.polygram-us.com/localh/.