Don’t be duped by practically Hip merchandise, guitarist warns
Tragically Hip guitarist Rob Baker is urging fans to be vigilant when buying merchandise that claims to be linked to Gord Downie’s charity.
The musician tweeted Tuesday that some online shoppers are being duped into buying T-shirts, hoodies and other items that purport to donate $10 of the proceeds to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research.
Baker says the operators — who are using Facebook and Instagram to amplify their message — aren’t linked to the band. One such group is “Gord Downie supporters” on Facebook, which has appeared as a sponsored content post in some user’s news feeds.
“Wear this T-shirt, and give your support!” some of the posts say.
Each link redirects to “The Hip Store,” a website that’s not associated with the band but uses a similar domain name.
From there, shoppers can browse a selection of seemingly official merchandise with images from Secret Path, lyrics from Hip songs and a variation of Downie’s famous Jaws shirt from last summer’s tour.
“Hey folks, there are a lot of THip Tshirts, hoodies ... on the net, Instagram, Facebook ... claiming that $10 goes to Gord Downie fund. It’s BS!” Baker tweeted.
Facebook did not immediately respond for comment. Deceptive sellers have been a persistent problem for the Hip since Downie revealed last year he was suffering from terminal brain cancer.
Don Seymour, a Kingston, Ont., resident, was among the Hip fans who unknowingly purchased a hoodie from an illegitimate seller last year. It wasn’t until he read media coverage about fake sites weeks later that he realized he’d been swindled.
He plans to donate it to a local homeless shelter.
“If it can go to someone that’ll keep warm on a cold day, I’m OK with that,” he said.