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Trent Reznor Is a Dick to Nicest Politicians in Canada

Way to keep Alberta down, Reznor.

You may not know who Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi is, or that he’s the first mayor of a large Canadian city who is a visible minority and a Muslim. You may not know that he’s so popular for being good that he acted as the foil character to Rob Ford during the crack saga, or that he was re-elected in 2013 with support from 74% of Calgary’s population. But one person who does know who Nenshi is, is Trent Reznor. At the very least, Reznor knows at least what Nenshi looks like, since the lead singer from the popular late-80s industrial noise band Nine Inch Nails recently contacted the Mayor’s office over the politician’s use of the band’s logo on a t-shirt.

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This cyber-bullying incident started when Mayor Nenshi and Alberta Premiere Rachel Notley were photographed together on June 23rd holding a pair of shirts featuring the slogan “Notley Iveson Nenshi” underneath a Nine Inch Nails logo, along with the tagline “Building Alberta Together.” The “I” in the “NIN” logo belonged to Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, who came together with the Mayor of his neighboring city and the Premiere of the Province to help bring good things to their hometown. Because, to borrow a term, “We’re In This Together.”

@RachelNotley & @Nenshi showing off their new rock t-shirts: Notley Iveson Nenshi: Building Alberta Together #ableg pic.twitter.com/MYAExO4SPk

— Chima Nkemdirim (@chimaincalgary) June 23, 2015

But now, thanks to Reznor, this t-shirt has become “Something I Can Never Have” because of a trademark issue. Though Nenshi’s office maintains that the shirts were not being sold for commercial gain, the “Hurt” has already been administered to the people of Calgary who were hoping that this appropriation of this angry rockstar’s logo would bring them “Closer” to their goal of unity. Although there hasn’t been any indication that the shirts were being sold by a third party, the letter Reznor’s people sent “expressed concern over the use of the logo on t-shirts that are being sold by a third party that is not connected to either Mayor Nenshi or his office.” While it’s impossible to monitor every potential avenue of sale, anyone with a “Head Like a Hole” has knowledge of how easy it is to screen print a logo onto a shirt. So thank you, Trent Reznor. Thank you for not only protecting the sanctity of your logo, but doing it in a way that targeted the nicest politician in Canada who was trying to unite his province. You’ve not only ensured that your band’s crest won’t be put on anything but all-black t-shirts that you’ve picked out yourself, but that Alberta will not be built, together or alone.

Slava Pastuk has been to Calgary once - @SlavaP