Cristal Champagne

In 2003, Cristal was the most mentioned drink in pop music. Artists such as
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Recently, Frederic Rouzoud, Managing Director of Louis Roederer, parent company of Cristal Champagne, says that the attention his product has received in rap songs is unwelcome.
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In a special summer issue of The Economist magazine, the interviewer asked if the association between Cristal and the "bling lifestyle" could be detrimental. Rouzaud replied, "That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. On it's own website, http://www.champagne-roederer.com/ Cristal is described as "elegant."
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I guess we shouldn't ask Cristal, who has high profile artist, Jay-Z, vowing not to support any of Frederic Rouzoud/Louis Roederer products through any of his brands or in his personal life.

Jay-Z has taken his boycott of Cristal Champagne to another level.
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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."I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products…"

Earlier today, a public relations representative for Jay-Z revealed that he has opted to remove all Cristal references from his lyrics and will be therefore performing modified versions of many of his songs this Sunday at New York's Radio City Music Hall.Jay-Z is performing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his 1996 debut, "Reasonable Doubt" (Roc-A-Fella/Priority), considered a classic hip-hop album.

It will certainly be interesting to see if Rouzaud's comments will hurt Cristal Champagne's sales throughout the next quarter and beyond.We will unfortunately be seeing a lot less of Dam Dash and Jay-Z pouring Cristal onto videho's heads, but fortunately for us, I'm sure Dom Perignon gets the job done just as well.

After the announcement that the 40/40 Club will no longer be serving Cristal Champagne, Jay-Z took action responding.

Cristal Champagne and Jay-Z
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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.' I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including The 40/40 Club nor in my personal life."

"It has come to my attention" makes me assume that he was informed at least second-hand, and did not read the article himself.

Jay-Z jumped to conclusions.No comments regarding race were made.Not one.In addition, Jay-Z claims that Rouzaud called the attention brought forth by Hip-Hop's endorsement of Cristal "unwanted attention," when in fact Rouzaud never made such a comment.Here are Rouzaud's only comments presented in the article (in response to the question of whether or not "an association between Cristal and the bling lifestyle could actually hurt the brand.") :
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But champagnes such as Cristal are most likely purchased by those who appreciate the fine craftsmanship, ingredients, and care that goes into making such drinks.If a winery's intent is to produce their drinks for such an appreciation, then it's acceptable to think that those wineries don't want to see their product splashed all over music fans, poured on the ground, and flaunted as "bling-bling" (the first two examples taken from a Morning Edition clip on NPR… which oddly has the host saying, "…Jay-Z picked up a special issue of The Economist," contradicting my assumtion based on his comments made in his press release).Turning Cristal into an object of boastful showiness (the definition of "bling-bling"?) is bit more extreme than a mere bragging about being able to afford it, and certainly doesn't fall in line with promoting appreciation for the drink itself.If the above comment does embody the philosophy of Rouzaud's winery, then this viewpoint is understandable.

This is not to say that Jay-Z is not a connoisseur of fine wines and champagnes.For all I know, he could have high standards and discriminating tastes when it comes to those types of drinks.But it seems the genre of Hip-Hop does not promote the tasting and appreciating of Cristal, but rather makes the champagne part of showy boasting (judging from what I've read).
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Cristal Champagne and Jay-Z

Cristal Champagne and Jay-ZThe Legendhouse » Blog Archive » Cristal Champagne and Jay-Z
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Cristal Champagne and Jay-Z
...
"It has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the 'hip-hop' culture as 'unwelcome attention.' I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including The 40/40 Club nor in my personal life."

"It has come to my attention" makes me assume that he was informed at least second-hand, and did not read the article himself.

Jay-Z jumped to conclusions.No comments regarding race were made.Not one.In addition, Jay-Z claims that Rouzaud called the attention brought forth by Hip-Hop's endorsement of Cristal "unwanted attention," when in fact Rouzaud never made such a comment.Here are Rouzaud's only comments presented in the article (in response to the question of whether or not "an association between Cristal and the bling lifestyle could actually hurt the brand.") :
...
But champagnes such as Cristal are most likely purchased by those who appreciate the fine craftsmanship, ingredients, and care that goes into making such drinks.If a winery's intent is to produce their drinks for such an appreciation, then it's acceptable to think that those wineries don't want to see their product splashed all over music fans, poured on the ground, and flaunted as "bling-bling" (the first two examples taken from a Morning Edition clip on NPR… which oddly has the host saying, "…Jay-Z picked up a special issue of The Economist," contradicting my assumtion based on his comments made in his press release).Turning Cristal into an object of boastful showiness (the definition of "bling-bling"?) is bit more extreme than a mere bragging about being able to afford it, and certainly doesn't fall in line with promoting appreciation for the drink itself.If the above comment does embody the philosophy of Rouzaud's winery, then this viewpoint is understandable.

This is not to say that Jay-Z is not a connoisseur of fine wines and champagnes.For all I know, he could have high standards and discriminating tastes when it comes to those types of drinks.But it seems the genre of Hip-Hop does not promote the tasting and appreciating of Cristal, but rather makes the champagne part of showy boasting (judging from what I've read).
...
Cristal Champagne and Jay-Z New sketches and inks!Hooray!

In 2003, Cristal was the most mentioned drink in pop music. Artists such as
...
Recently, Frederic Rouzoud, Managing Director of Louis Roederer, parent company of Cristal Champagne, says that the attention his product has received in rap songs is unwelcome.
...
In a special summer issue of The Economist magazine, the interviewer asked if the association between Cristal and the "bling lifestyle" could be detrimental. Rouzaud replied, "That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it." On it's own website, http://www.champagne-roederer.com/ Cristal is described as "elegant."
...
I guess we shouldn't ask Cristal, who has high profile artist, Jay-Z, vowing not to support any of Frederic Rouzoud/Louis Roederer products through any of his brands or in his personal life.