Rapper King 50 Cent In A TV Ad Tells He’s Been Shot Nine Times, Then Shows His Reeboks and Proclaims “I Am What I Am”. Maybe So, But...
No Longer On British Screens -- Ad Withdrawn!
And Then There is Tiger Wood’s Kind of Shot.

Philip Stone April 18, 2005

When it comes to celebrity endorsements to attract the young they don’t come much bigger than 50 cent, the rapper currently with three hits in the US Top 10 and the number one album. But he has a shady past – drug dealing, being shot nine times outside his grandmother’s home in New York – and a rap sheet like that usually keeps that type of personality and large companies seeking endorsements apart. But Reebok saw it as a perfect fit for its athletic shoes.

As part of its “I am who I am” campaign, 50 cent (real name Curtis Jackson) says, “Shot nine times in Jamaica Queens 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 ..Tell Me, who are you planning to massacre next”? And then he shows his Reeboks and the Who I Am tagline.

That was just too much for some 50 British television viewers who complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the spot glamorized and glorified gun violence. But before the ASA had a chance to rule Reebok pulled the ad.

Reebok spokeswoman Denise Kaigler explained the ad was part of a campaign “intended to be a positive and empowering celebration of the right of self-expression, individuality and authenticity.”

Among those not seeing it that way was Lucy Coped, whose 22-year-old son was shot in London three years ago. She now heads Mothers Against Guns and she was urging a boycott of all Reebok products until the ad was pulled.

Reebok has had a policy of signing rap stars for several years, feeling its target audience identifies with such personalities. But it already knew it had problems with this ad by the many protests received when it first aired in the US in March. Multiple groups complained with the same basic message – using a former drug dealer and someone who has been shot in such a way is not a great role model to be promoting to inner city kids.

The campaign ran just two weeks in the US, which Reebok said was according to schedule. Several analysts have pointed out, however, that the ad must have cost Reebok a fortune and for such an expense two weeks is a very short shelf life.

If Reebok thought it would have better luck in Europe it quickly discovered that was a misjudgment. A Reebok spokesperson explained, “ 50 Cent has become one of the world’s most successful recording artists. The ad reflects the facts of 50 Cent’s life to date – it references what he has had to overcome to reach his global iconic status. This is a positive call to our audience – whoever or wherever you are, you can achieve.”

In this case what was proved is that if you protest enough and threaten boycott you can achieve the pulling of an expensive ad campaign.

And in the same week that Reebok had to impose such damage control for its expensive campaign their marketing people must have gone green with envy at all the free publicity, and good vibes  that arch rival Nike got from its celebrity endorser – Tiger Woods. In just one golf shot (Tiger never needs nine) Nike earned back its $25 million, and a whole lot more, that it pays Tiger to endorse its golf products with a chip shown around the world again, and again and again.

It really had to be seen to be believed. At the Masters Golf tournament Tiger chipped on the 16th green and his new Nike One Platinum ball just seemed to have eyes, twisting and turning, at one point turning 90 degrees, until it settled on the lip of the cup, with the TV close-up focused on the ball’s Nike swoosh. And then it dropped in. A 16-second shot -- an advertiser’s dream come true!

Doubtful that there is a sportscast anywhere in the world that did not show that clip at least once. Advertising statisticians are already saying it’s impossible to put a true value on that 16-seconds but just to buy the time would cost  hundreds of millions of dollars.  As they say, you really can’t buy that type of publicity.

Nike’s head of marketing summed it up. “It was the best product endorsement you could wish for…. We couldn’t have written a better advertisement ourselves.”

Tiger could definitely say with pride, “I Am What I Am”.