Famous Beats

This article was submitted by Nicole from New Obsesh. Her blog is mainly about fashion and entertainment. I personaly love her writing. She is very funny. Oh, and I have to mention her artwork too. I can tell that is exactly what JD was thinking.

The music industry has reached the seedy and stereotypical low that I previously thought was only reserved for McDonald’s and Wal-Mart.

Jermaine Dupri and Island Def Jam are partnering with Proctor and Gamble’s TAG body spray to launch a record label called TAG Records. Dupri will serve as the new label’s CEO. The thought of that is about as hideous as McDonald’s sponsoring lunch programs at public schools.

According to the Atlanta Business Journal:

TAG Records is an effort by the brand to connect with the urban market by providing opportunities for aspiring hip-hop talent. Those artists will merge their music with brand marketing for TAG, and will be promoted through a multimillion-dollar campaign, including television, print, radio, computer and event marketing.”

As a soon-to-be graduate of an advertising and public relations program at a major university, let me translate that for you.

“TAG Records is a way for Proctor and Gamble to sell more useless shit to the urban community (namely African Americans) and a way for us to exploit aspiring artists to sell more deodorant. Using hip-hop to sell random shit is trendy, so let’s start a “record label” to “nurture aspiring artists” so we can further tap into the urban market!

Additionally, the artists “discovered” by TAG Records will forever be attached to the brand through advertising, marketing efforts, and TAG-branded tours.

Now, I’m about to get a little un-PC here, so bare with me.

There are several reasons this partnership irritates me, but perhaps the most disturbing thing of all is that the reason this non-transparent advertising technique is being used is because basically speaking, Proctor and Gamble think that black people aren’t smart enough to realize that they’re being sold a bunch of shit through hip-hop, and they will associate “coolness” with deodorant. Which we all know is total racist bullshit.

So, boycott TAG. They are exploiting what we all love for profit in the most racist and disrespectful way possible.

Xoxo
Nicole E.