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Coldplay wants to put its name ‘to good use’

Chris Martin describes the band's support for Oxfam's fair trade campaign.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Coldplay doesn’t want to impose their political beliefs on others, says frontman Chris Martin, but band members feel an obligation to use their celebrity for a good cause.

Coldplay supports Oxfam’s fair trade campaign, which lobbies against trade policies that hurt developing countries, such as the influx of goods from developed countries.

“We don’t want to be preachy, we just say those words (fair trade), and make sure people look it up themselves,” Martin said at a news conference ahead of a concert Thursday.

He said the British rock band wants to put their name recognition to good use.

“When one or two people take pictures of us, we feel like we could start advertising something we care about,” said Martin, 29, who has the Oxfam campaign’s twin-striped logo tattooed onto his left hand.

He said the band dislikes their debut album, “Parachutes,” which was released in 2000.

“We know that’s terrible music, and we always try to think about what we can do next,” Martin said.

He declined to say when their next album will be released, but said it definitely won’t be this year.