Arcade Fire 'Reflektor' Graffiti Angers Austin Native, Win Butler Apologizes For New Album Marketing Mistake

An Arcade Fire fan/Austin native named Ian Dille was more than a little bit upset by the guerrilla marketing graffiti employed in his hometown to advertise Arcade Fire's upcoming album, Reflektor. Dille penned an op-ed for Slate's Browbeat blog wherein he took the band to task for spray-painting the side of his wife's work and got a bit of an unexpected surprise in return.

Via the piece:

Now, my wife and I are fans of Arcade Fire. I've listened to them since college, when they were a little indie act out of Canada, not the multimillion-dollar Grammy-winning band they are today. I take some strange pride in the fact that Butler grew up in Texas, too. But unlike a lot of people, who thought the graffiti campaign was ingenious, when I found out the logo was nothing but a commercial promotion I felt ... used. Even-and maybe this is too harsh?-a little betrayed.

...

If you're a talented young artist who considers the urban environment your canvas, by all means, spray-paint a building. If you've got a radical social agenda and you think spray-painting property is the best way to convey your message? Go ahead. If you're a gangbanger and you want to mark your territory, I can learn to live with that.

But if you're an internationally renowned band that's defacing public and private property for promotional purposes, maybe go back to the drawing board, and think some more about how you want to let people know about your music.

Dille also called the marketing stunt "immature" and unbecoming of a band of Arcade Fire's critical stature.

After seeing the piece, Win Butler wrote a handwritten apology to Dille and claimed that the graffiti was never meant to be permanent. He claims that the plan was for the "Reflektor" logo to be drawn in chalk, but that got lost somewhere along the line to the street-level artists.

Check out the letter in full below: