Various hip-hop heavyweights are lining up to
announce a proposed boycott of Pepsi and other companies that exploit hip-hop
music.
Russell Simmons and his Hip-Hop Summit Network
plan to make announcements and detail the plans during All Star Weekend in Atlanta.
"We are going to show Pepsi and cooperate
America just how powerful we are," Simmons told AllHipHop.com.
Many are accusing Pepsi of a double standard,
after dumping rapper Ludacris in August of last year. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly assailed
Pepsi on "The O’Reilly Factor," for utilizing the rapper in their
advertisements.
The company had no issues with the equally, if
not more profane Osbournes, who debuted a new Pepsi Twist commercial during
this years Superbowl.
“This isn’t about the Osbournes, but that situation
makes it more pertinent,” Simmons continued. “What Pepsi did has affected other
deals and other rappers. We intend to flex our muscle.”
O’Reilly branded Pepsi as “immoral” for using
Ludacris to promote the soft drink and urged viewers to boycott Pepsi. Over
3,000 people called in and pressured Pepsi to drop Ludacris.
Pepsi claimed the nature of his lyrics were not
appropriate for their younger viewers.
"We have a responsibility to listen to our
consumers and customers and we’ve heard from a number of people that were uncomfortable
with our association with this artist," the PepsiCo Inc. unit said in a
statement. "We’ve decided to discontinue our ad campaign with this artist
and we’re sorry that we’ve offended anyone."
The Osbournes Pepsi Twist commercial ironically
aired on the Fox television network during the Superbowl.
