What’s the point of being a super popular indie band if you can’t do a little good in the world? Animal Collective stars in the new PETA ad campaigning against seal hunting in Canada and boy are they just about as cute as any seal we’ve ever seen. Brian “Geologist” Weitz, Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox, and David “Avey Tare” Portner will appear on ads everywhere helping to spread the word — indie girls, shed your fur. Good work, gents. Anybody else using their cred (or cash) for a good cause?
Why yes. Moby, our favorite bald vegan, recently volunteered the proceeds from his three California shows to form a special ‘SOS’ fund for the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence after state funding for domestic violence shelters was cut in July.
Coldplay, who probably have more capital to burn than our underground seal lovers, recently gave a million pounds (that’s $1,616,809 U.S. dollars) to Kids Company, an organization battling the homelessness, substance abuse, and emotional trauma of inner-city kids in London. Supposedly, the band will also visit the Company to teach music and give concerts.
And let’s not forget the Yellow Bird Project, which is, impressively, going on its third year. In case you still haven’t heard of it, it’s a Montreal non-profit that sells t-shirts designed by such visionaries as Devendra Banhart, Bon Iver, Wolf Parade, and The National. Proceeds from each artist’s t-shirt supports a different charity, so you can choose your favorite bands or your favorite charity or both. There’s also an Indie Rock Coloring Book for those of you who are more artistically-inclined.
But maybe the best contribution — and we can’t believe we’re writing this — will come from Katy Perry, who plans to donate her breasts to charity. Well, okay, a cast sculpture of her breasts painted by her boyfriend, which will be auctioned off to support the Keep A Breast Foundation’s youth outreach program. Her breasts will be available November 26th – get ’em while they’re hot.
Watch the PETA video, in which Animal Collective compares seal hunting to slavery, here: