The Null Device
2003/9/12
Branding and merchandising tie-ins are the big thing in hip-hop these days, and any rapper worth his salt in the MTV world has to have a portfolio of lifestyle product brands to go with their actual CDs. A rapper named Nelly, recently launched plans to add a line of energy drinks to his empire, but has run into opposition from black organisations planning to organise boycotts of the product. The playa-haters in question are objecting to it being called Pimp Juice.
(And I see their point; the fact that a word for one who exploits the labour of prostitutes has come to signify success and status does seem somewhat sick. Much in the way that "thug" has become synonymous with self-worth as a man.)
The Top 25 under-reported media stories of 2002-2003; from the usual ones about the War On Terrorism(tm) (the PNAC masterplan, massacres in Afghanistan and provoking terrorists for fun and profit) to corporate malfeasance (plans to enclose the Internet, Clear Channel's radio monopoly) and miscellaneous other issues. Including an odd item about Bush handing over national forests to private corporations, sponsored by Disney. I'm surprised anyone has a problem with that; if we can't trust the makers of Bambi to care for the forests, whom can we trust? (via Slashdot)