Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

CNN

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Asked by the Economist if the association between Cristal and the "bling lifestyle" could be detrimental, Frederic Rouzaud, managing director of Louis Roederer, replied:
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"That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."
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"It has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the 'hip-hop' culture as 'unwelcome attention,"' rapper Jay-Z said in a statement released Wednesday. "I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various [shops] nor in my personal life."


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We need to get some rhymes for Krug, now.

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

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"It has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the 'hip-hop' culture as 'unwelcome attention,"' rapper Jay-Z said in a statement released Wednesday. "I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various [shops] nor in my personal life."


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Yes, b/c not wanting your product to be seen being sprayed all over some strippers ass in some cheap music video must be racist.

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...rapper Jay-Z said in a statement released Wednesday. "I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various [shops] nor in my personal life."

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nigga, please.

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

Wow, Roederer really [censored] this one up. Why turn away free advertising? Sure it may be "sprayed all over some strippers ass in some cheap music video" but that sort of thing appeals to the people who are watching the free ad.

J

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Yea I would hate to make money from rappers, it's worth so much less than regular money.

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

I remember reading something like this a couple of years ago, after Cognac producers were shocked by the huge increase of sales in drinks like Hennessy and Courvoisier. However, they just said they were happy for the business, because they don't hate money.

I find it a little strange too that he makes this statement now. Cristal has been prominent in Rap videos since the mid 90's. Why get particular now?

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Tommy Hilfiger v. 2006?

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I had never heard of Cristal before it started popping up in the hip-hop world. This is turning down free advertising. Dumb move.

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

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I had never heard of Cristal before it started popping up in the hip-hop world. This is turning down free advertising. Dumb move.

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Maybe that's why they're calling it unwanted attention instead of free advertising. Cristal doesn't care if peasants like us are aware of their product. They don't want to be associated with the peasantry or our vulgar minstrels.

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

You guys are focusing on the less-retarted of the two quotes.

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It makes sense, Cristal's target market don't want to be associated with the bling / gangsta lifestyle.

M. Rouzeaud makes sense, and if I am ever in the market for expensive champagne (unlikely, but hey), I'm now going to buy Cristal because Jay Z is just wrongly playing the racist card.

Believe it or not, sometimes people dislike you just for being a dick, not because of the colour of your skin.

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PP,

If not racist, they are definitely elitist. I suspect a little of both.

J

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lolz @ people thinking this is somehow not about race

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

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It makes sense, Cristal's target market don't want to be associated with the bling / gangsta lifestyle.

M. Rouzeaud makes sense, and if I am ever in the market for expensive champagne (unlikely, but hey), I'm now going to buy Cristal because Jay Z is just wrongly playing the racist card.

Believe it or not, sometimes people dislike you just for being a dick, not because of the colour of your skin.

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Their target audience isn't watching rap videos anyway. And if they are, they are buying cristal because thats what they see in the videos.

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Rappers are only interested in Cristal for its bling factor, not because it is a great champagne. If a champagne called "Dogchit" was the most expensive, they'd be rhyming it with "fog hit",(people have equated drinking Cristal with "drinking fog).

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This is an opening salvo. Expect to see Jay-Z marketing his own brand of high-end sparkling wine a la Armandale vodka.

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

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This is an opening salvo. Expect to see Jay-Z marketing his own brand of high-end sparkling wine a la Armandale vodka.

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H.O.V.A. branch out? I don't see it.....

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

Jay Z was anti semitic in one of his songs I seem to remember.

The point is - who cares about racism. It's everyones right to be racist if they want.

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

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Jay Z was anti semitic in one of his songs I seem to remember.

The point is - who cares about racism. It's everyones right to be racist if they want.

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While that's true, it's also everyone's right to boycott, and urge others to do so.

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"Flow tight like i was born Jewish"? Is that the lyric you're referring to?

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While that's true, it's also everyone's right to boycott, and urge others to do so.

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I wasn't denying that.

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It makes sense, Cristal's target market don't want to be associated with the bling / gangsta lifestyle.

M. Rouzeaud makes sense, and if I am ever in the market for expensive champagne (unlikely, but hey), I'm now going to buy Cristal because Jay Z is just wrongly playing the racist card.

Believe it or not, sometimes people dislike you just for being a dick, not because of the colour of your skin.

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Their target audience isn't watching rap videos anyway. And if they are, they are buying cristal because thats what they see in the videos.

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Exactly

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

Living in Europe I've never heard of Cristal except in association with US hip-hop stuff. I've never heard of anyone buying a bottle of it or seen it in a shop. Is it a US thing?

The ones I think of as good are Dom Perignon - because that's what James Bond drinks and Veuve Clicqout was fashionable some years back, but not so much anymore.

Personally I'm just as happy with a good bottle of Cremant de Bourgogne. I can't taste the difference and it's half the price.

Re: Rappers to boycott Cristal champagne
 

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lolz @ people thinking this is somehow not about race

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If you're going to make a charge like that, then you should have some proof. I agree with the others who said that it just could be they don't like seeing Cristal dumped all over a stripper's ass on TRL or something.

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Tommy Hilfiger v. 2006?

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Do some research before you post:

about.com- tommy hilfiger a racist?

"Netlore Archive: False rumors alleging that fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger made racist statements on Oprah Winfrey's show are circulating (again) by email"


This myth that proof exists of Hilfiger being a racist has been debunked as an urban legend and people should stop propagating it for Tommy's sake.

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Ya...because everything HAS to be about race. They would probably be equally as turned off about the idea of white trailor park trash spraying toothless hicks in music videos.

Pull that fat head out of your ass and think for a second. I am starting to doubt that your a 29yr old virgin not because of your looks and more because of your thought (or lack there of) process...

TIG

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Ya...because everything HAS to be about race. They would probably be equally as turned off about the idea of white trailor park trash spraying toothless hicks in music videos.

Pull that fat head out of your ass and think for a second. I am starting to doubt that your a 29yr old virgin not because of your looks and more because of your thought (or lack there of) process...

TIG

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Your reading and comprehension skills need some serious work.

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lolz @ people thinking this is somehow not about race

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I don't believe that this is the case here. Burberry have decreased the use of their tartan pattern since it became associated with football hooligans and chavs - both subcultures, as far as I understand it, largely consisting of white, working-class males.

I don't think you can blame a company for not wanting to be associated with individuals that might alienate their traditional customer base.

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Yes, b/c not wanting your product to be seen being sprayed all over some strippers ass in some cheap music video must be racist.

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Cheap music videos? I'm think music videos are pretty expensive to make.

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Yes, b/c not wanting your product to be seen being sprayed all over some strippers ass in some cheap music video must be racist.

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Cheap music videos? I'm think music videos are pretty expensive to make.

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content cheap

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There are legitimate situations of racism all over the world; whenever you brand something as racist that isn't (like this) you take away attention from areas that deserve it by using the term too loosely. Then, when something happens that is actually a problem, it gets treated with the same rolled-eyes by those who cannot differentiate.

In essence, Jay-Z perpetuates racism by deeming things racist that aren't.

Like this.

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Still lol-ing.

Cristal isn't losing any sales because it's showing up in a hip-hop video.

Ignoring race in conversations like this is just flying blind. Yes, issues of class are factors as well, but you're kidding yourself if you don't think that is plays a significant role.

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It's actually more racist when you think "low class" automatically has to be associated with "black people."

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BVT,

Seems like you're trying to suggest I said something I didn't.

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Isn't it true that other makers of "high class products" give their product to rappers (and other celebs) for free specifically for promotional reasons?

Also, do you think this was a question known prior to the interview and it was a thought out answer, or was the guy caught off guard and he said something stupid like a bonehead?

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Ignoring race in conversations like this is just flying blind. Yes, issues of class are factors as well, but you're kidding yourself if you don't think that is plays a significant role.

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I think you're looking for something that simply isn't there. A company doesn't want to be associated with a genre that is often synonomous with violence, gangs, misogyny and other undesireable traits. That does not make it racist.

Edited for spelling

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This seems on par with what the F1 guy said about Danica Patrick. I get the impression, and this could be 100% wrong, that some of those older european dudes don't actually care so intensely about public perception.

The thing about Chris is that the reason it became a big deal for rappers was that it's a symbol of high class. They were huge before hip-hop and will be huge after. That's the part that makes this so silly, it's not likely to have a meaningful effect on their business either way, so it's just so needlessly insulting.

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not racist. see analogy of hillbillies spraying it all over each other in country videos (if that happened) and burberry example in the UK.

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Cristal isn't losing any sales because it's showing up in a hip-hop video.

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What are you basing that on?

Given how much the brand name "Cristal" has become associated with rap vidoes (as shown in this thread), I wouldn't doubt that a lot of Cristal's original market would be more inclined to choose a different brand of high-end champagne.

Today rappers sing about Cristal. Next year they will sing about something else. 5 years from now, rich people will be buying Dom because Cristal will still have the stigma of being "that champagne in those offensive videos/songs".

Obviously they are going to pick up more business in other markets, but what evidence do you have that they are making more (and will continue to make more) from this temporary fad of a market than they are losing in their traditional long-term market?

This is not about race. This is about money. I seriously doubt that the owners of Cristal are basing their decisions on anything other than getting as much loot into their pockets as possible.

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Still lol-ing.

Cristal isn't losing any sales because it's showing up in a hip-hop video.


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Cristal isn't losing any sales because black people drink it either. Cristal-guy's statement doesn't have to be racist to be idiotic.