Wasting bubbles

Jay-Z Puts a Cap on Cristal

Douglas Century in the Times: Hip-hop made Cristal a household name. Can it also unmake it?

Since the rapper Jay-Z called for a boycott of the Champagne after its maker seemed to sniff at its popularity with rap stars, some in the music, night life and beverage industries are predicting a long-term flattening of the $300-a-bottle bubbly.

The first evidence of any effect the boycott might have come Tuesday night in Los Angeles at the BET Awards, which drew an A-list of African-American entertainers like Kanye West, Sean Combs, Mary J. Blige, Prince and Jamie Foxx. But something was missing.

"You normally see Cristal around these festive events, and it was noticeably absent this year," said Marvet Britto, the head of a New York public relations and brand strategy company specializing in the African-American market. "If you saw Champagne on a table, it was Dom Pérignon and Veuve Clicquot." Ms. Britto said this was in stark contrast to last year's MTV Music Awards in Miami, where "you saw people walking the red carpet with Cristal like a badge of honor."

"That's Jay-Z's influence as a tastemaker," she added. "He's the E. F. Hutton of hip-hop."

And what exactly did this E. F. Hutton say about Cristal, whose name he once liberally dropped into his songs as a symbol of the plush life? Two weeks ago, the rapper announced that Cristal would no longer be served at his chain of 40/40 nightclubs, and he called for a consumer boycott. He was reacting to a quotation by Frédéric Rouzaud, the president of Champagne Louis Roederer (maker of Cristal) in The Economist magazine.

Asked by an interviewer if the association with rap's bling-bling set could hurt the brand, Mr. Rouzaud was quoted as saying: "That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it." (Mr. Rouzaud later issued a statement saying that the company had "the utmost regard for, and interest in, all forms of art and culture.")

In a phone interview last week, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, said he didn't appreciate the tone of Mr. Rouzaud's initial remarks. "Surely he meant to say, 'Thank you,' right?" Mr. Carter said, referring to the free publicity his and other rappers' music and videos have given the brand over the years. "Anything but a 'Thank you' is racist."

Boy, the French really don't get it... well, at least Rouzaud didn't say 'those people.'

Uncredited file photo of Jay-Z via Philadelphia Weekly's Beanie Blog.