Panic! at the Auto Show
Pop-Punk Band Headlines the Greenest Honda Civic Tour Yet

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 01.24.08 @ 04:48 PM

Honda has announced a tie-up with platinum-selling -- and now punctuation-less -- pop-punk band Panic At The Disco in the automaker's eighth consecutive year of music patronage through the Honda Civic Tour. Starting April 10, the show will make over 40 stops before it finishes this summer.

In the early years of the tour, Honda linked up with headline acts that were breaking through at the time, such as Incubus and Good Charlotte back in 2002 and 2003, but lately they've been pulling in big-name acts such as The Black Eyed Peas, Maroon 5 and last year's headliners, Fall Out Boy. This has allowed the organizers to be able to afford to take multiple up-and-coming or under-the-radar acts out on the road with them, such as Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound and Phantom Planet in this year's tour.

As well as providing funding, Honda will also be providing a Panic At The Disco-designed Honda Civic Hybrid that will be featured at each show and then put up as the main prize for a lucky fan to win. The Panic At The Disco design features an outdoor theme that helps to push a green message from the band and Honda. This Green message will be further reinforced on the tour with every ticket purchased being matched with a donation to non-profit tour partners Reverb and Global Inheritance, who are partnering to bring "interactive, fun and fan friendly exhibits" at each stop on the tour.

All in all an excellent example of a brand-music partnership that benefits the brand, the band and the fans, but also the environment to boot.