H&M caught major heat this week after it was accused of creating fake neo-Nazi metal bands in a shameless attempt to sell T-shirts. But, as many people suspected, it was all a hoax.
A group of diehard metal fans was responsible for creating Strong Scene Productions, the company who claimed to be working with H&M on a shirt collaboration. As Metal Injections originally reported, the designs featured the names of obscure music acts, which were all linked to Strong Scene Productions. Furthermore, it was pointed out that some of the bands’ profiles had neo-Nazi references, including an illustration of Hitler and the mention of a record label called “National Heritage Pride.” Things got even weirder after it was discovered that all of the information about the bands—including biographies and concert posters—were created within the past week, leading many people to believe it was all an ill-advised campaign by H&M.
The assumptions weren’t completely unwarranted. The fast-fashion retailer has a history of controversial fuck-ups, including selling offensive headdresses and tank tops that displayed anti-Semetic imagery. But it turns out H&M wasn’t involved in any way.
The minds behind Strong Scene Production pulled off this elaborate stunt for one sole purpose: to reclaim their subculture.
Noisey recently sat down with Henri Sorvali, a member of Moonsorrow/Finntroll metal band and one of the people responsible for the hoax. He discusses the reasoning behind this performance and why he and his partners went to great lengths to fool everyone.
"The purpose of the group (consisting of literally tens of people from different areas of music and media around Scandinavia) was to create discussion on the fact that metal culture is more than just 'cool' looking logos on fashionable clothes, and has many more aesthetic and ideological aspects in different subgenres than what some corporations are trying to express," Sorvali told Noisey. "The metal scene is varied, controversial and a sort of a wolf you can't chain into a leash and expect it to behave on your terms like a dog. Strong Scene as a collective has absolutely no political nor ideological intentions, and is only bringing the conversation to the level it should be discussed at."
Sorvali went on to explain that he did not do this for publicity, nor was he hired by H&M he just wanted to remind people that "you cannot commercialise a subculture without actually knowing all the different aspects of it."
You can read the full article at Noisey’s website.
[via Noisey]
