UK: Massive Attack To Donate Armani Ad Campaign Fee To Charity

Massive Attack has agreed to let Emporio Armani use its track 'Angel' in a worldwide advertising campaign, but only after donating the fee to charity. The track will be featured in a commercial for the Emporio Armani fragrance HE/SHE. The band was reluctant for the song to be used, and was only willing to give permission if its payment was given to the Red Cross. A smaller portion of the fee will also be donated to the Bristol-based Beira Fund. Beira is a town in Mozambique that is twinned with Bristol, and suffered heavily from the recent floods. The money donated will help with the rebuilding of schools in the area.Massive Attack's 3-D said: "The music that's used in ads is becoming increasingly homogenised, and the agencies are resorting to cheap rip-offs of other people's styles. This is not something we want to be part of, but if we can redirect money to people that need it then it's worth it."A spokesperson for the Red Cross told nme.com: "Obviously, any donation, however small or large, is a real help. I would expect the money to go into general funds, which isn't specified to one particular project, but does help with the training of volunteers."Massive Attack has invited Armani to match its contribution, and between them, the pair hopes to raise in the region of US$500,000 for charity.'Angel', the track that opens the band's 1998 album 'Mezzanine', has also been used in an advertising campaign for Adidas featuring soccer star David Beckham. A spokesperson for Massive Attack would not speculate where the money from that advertising campaign went.Massive Attack is currently recording its fourth studio album, which is not scheduled to be released until the start of next year.