WHAT THE HELL INDEED

Shawn Mendes Roasted for Using Wildfire Smoke to Hype New Song

The songwriter used a picture of New York City’s orange haze to promote “What the Hell Are We Dying For?”

Fans of Shawn Mendes are ripping him in his social media comments after he used a picture of New York City overtaken by a smoky, orange haze from Canada’s wildfires to promote his latest single, “What the Hell Are We Dying For?” One Instagram user joked “canada burning was just shawn mendes promo?” and another pointed out “ppl are dying in wildfires n getting sick by the poor air quality n u rlly decided to make it ur aesthetic?” In the singer-songwriter’s promotion of the song on Twitter, Mendes said he began writing the song with friends Thursday morning and “finished it only a few hours ago.” Along with his tweet, he told his fans he was donating to the Canadian Red Cross and encouraged them to do the same. Users still called him out for “trying to profit off a natural disaster” and “use this for your benefit!” The song seems to heavily reference the wildfires, with lyrics such as “Smoke in the air, the city’s burning down” and “I see it in the news.”