Overview
- Springsteen apologized onstage to Bono at the Tribeca Festival while receiving the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award, saying his decision to decline use of “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” for a Gap/(PRODUCT)RED ad was “a big mistake.”
- Bono had recalled asking Springsteen to license the 2007 song for a Gap collaboration that supported his (PRODUCT)RED campaign to raise money for HIV/AIDS programs in Africa.
- The exchange was light in tone and drew laughter, but there is no public indication that Springsteen has changed the past licensing decision or that the song will now be used in the campaign.
- The event included performances by Patti Smith with Springsteen and Bono joining a reprise, and the two also discussed Springsteen’s Land of Hope and Dreams tour and its recent politically charged material.
- The moment put a spotlight on the trade-offs artists face between artistic control and the broad reach that commercial partnerships can offer to charity-driven initiatives.