Here at Brokelyn, we’re always interested in bringing you news of the Brand Wars, in which Brands desperately claw for the approval (and disposable income) of young people. Lately, anti-Brand partisans have been pushing back, first seen when ExCops put McDonald’s on blast for offering to pay bands in exposure, and now Todd Patrick, a promoter and magical sprite tasked with keeping DIY’s spirit alive pulled the entire music lineup he curated for this year’s SummerScreen over the presence of a Brand sponsoring the stage without his knowledge.
In a Facebook post, Patrick claimed that organizers Northside Media “took a ‘branding’ deal for us to become the ‘Vitamin Water Stage’ without consulting us” or offering a larger booking budget so bands could get paid more. Patrick also said that he would have rejected the branding no matter what, and since Northside wasn’t able to ditch the Vitamin Water sponsorship, that he’d be pulling the entire SummerScreen lineup.
In the wake of Todd P. metaphorically flipping the moneylender’s tables in the sacred temple of nostalgic movie Wednesdays like some kind of D.I.Y. Jesus, there’s nothing on this year’s SummerScreen movie schedule. Whether that means a hastily booked new band or just a sad empty Vitamin Water Stage off to the side somewhere is unknown at the moment, but we emailed Northside for comment. Either way, this is the loudest shot fired in the Brand Wars so far.
UPDATE: The Vitamin Water Stage will not sit sad and empty, as punk band Worriers will be playing, with the music kicking off at 7:30pm.