2008 Woodie Awards
We're Hypocrites, So Our Protest Are Short Lived
Jonathan Peterson
Black College Wire
Issue date: 12/1/04 Section: Viewpoints
In April 2000, singer R. Kelly faced yet another lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct with a minor. There was much talk in the African American community about what would seem to be his ongoing behavioral flaw. Our community seemed to be outraged. Individuals and black radio stations vowed to disassociate themselves from him. We protested radio stations that played his music and stores that sold it.
Seven months later, when R. Kelly dropped his "TP2.com" album, which debuted at No. 1, we seemed to have a change of heart. Suddenly, we were jamming to "I Wish" and grooving in the club to "Feelin On Ya Booty"!
Our hypocrisy as African Americans holds back the empowerment of our communities.
Let's fast-forward to 2002, the infamous "Pepsi-O'Reilly-Ludacris" incident.
To appeal to its African American consumers, Pepsi recruited the growing rap icon Ludacris to be a spokesman. Initially, this probably went over well in the Pepsi marketing department staff meetings. However, Pepsi never anticipated that Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly would endorse a boycott of Pepsi for "peddling antisocial behavior" and promoting an artist with lyrics that degrade women.
Surprisingly, there was no mention of the rock group Papa Roach, also recruited as Pepsi spokesmen, having been in a porn film. (Nothing wrong with porn, huh, O'Reilly?) Nevertheless, 24 hours later, Ludacris' Pepsi ads were a thing of the past.
Needless to say, we pulled out our stock of protest supplies and went on the offensive. Our Pepsi protest was in full swing. Russell Simmons, with his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, along with HBCU students, denounced Pepsi while they sipped cool bottles of Aquafina and Code Red Mountain Dew, Pepsi products, from campus vending machines. How dare Pepsi pull Ludacris ads based on O'Reilly's ridiculous accusations?
This protest too, was short-lived: It began in August 2002 and our protest ended six months later, in February 2003, when Pepsi, whose parent company has annual revenues of $27 billion, agreed to donate $1 million to various charities in low-income African American communities and hired a bigger and more marketable black spokeswoman, Beyonce. (We sure showed them. We mean business!)
Seven months later, when R. Kelly dropped his "TP2.com" album, which debuted at No. 1, we seemed to have a change of heart. Suddenly, we were jamming to "I Wish" and grooving in the club to "Feelin On Ya Booty"!
Our hypocrisy as African Americans holds back the empowerment of our communities.
Let's fast-forward to 2002, the infamous "Pepsi-O'Reilly-Ludacris" incident.
To appeal to its African American consumers, Pepsi recruited the growing rap icon Ludacris to be a spokesman. Initially, this probably went over well in the Pepsi marketing department staff meetings. However, Pepsi never anticipated that Fox News Channel commentator Bill O'Reilly would endorse a boycott of Pepsi for "peddling antisocial behavior" and promoting an artist with lyrics that degrade women.
Surprisingly, there was no mention of the rock group Papa Roach, also recruited as Pepsi spokesmen, having been in a porn film. (Nothing wrong with porn, huh, O'Reilly?) Nevertheless, 24 hours later, Ludacris' Pepsi ads were a thing of the past.
Needless to say, we pulled out our stock of protest supplies and went on the offensive. Our Pepsi protest was in full swing. Russell Simmons, with his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, along with HBCU students, denounced Pepsi while they sipped cool bottles of Aquafina and Code Red Mountain Dew, Pepsi products, from campus vending machines. How dare Pepsi pull Ludacris ads based on O'Reilly's ridiculous accusations?
This protest too, was short-lived: It began in August 2002 and our protest ended six months later, in February 2003, when Pepsi, whose parent company has annual revenues of $27 billion, agreed to donate $1 million to various charities in low-income African American communities and hired a bigger and more marketable black spokeswoman, Beyonce. (We sure showed them. We mean business!)