I’m not sure how to preface this, so here it is: I like a Nickelback song. Yes, I’m talking about the band that sounds (and looks) like all the worst elements of the grunge era were dumped into Pro-Tools and produced by the CEO of Warner Music himself. I discovered this rather shocking truth while dining at the (also embarrassing to admit) Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. But here in lies the redeeming value: Surrounded and overcome by all things corporate, I noticed the phrase “What would happen if everyone cared?” flash across a tv screen, soon followed by footage of 1970’s peace marches in Northern Ireland, the orange jumpsuits of Guantanamo protesters and other human rights/social justice imagery. This instantly felt like the most subversive piece of “art” I had ever encountered–not just because it was playing to a lunchtime crowd of tourists and Midtown Manhattan account executives, but more so because the message was being promoted by the most mainstream of mainstream rock acts. Just think how many people have seen this video. The song itself is featured on the band’s seven-times platinum album All the Right Reasons, which also happens to be the longest running album on the Billboard 200–at nearly three years. So maybe the song doesn’t turn anyone into an activist, but it sure does get an awful lot of people thinking about issues of real importance and their own ability to do something about it. The video closes with a fitting quote by Margaret Meade: “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” So, that leaves me wondering: What would happen if every Nickelback fan cared?