How can ANY corporation be this f***ing stupid in 2008? This just baffles the hell out of me...don't they understand after 10 years of internets that this kind of shit will ONLY lead to a backlash? This is the biggest echo chamber in human history, people are just waiting for companies to f*** up like this...dumb. Dumb dumb dumb.

 

Cristal vs Hov. Saks vs Steph. Louis vs TI. Who's next, Goyard or Zanotti? lol.

 

hahahahahaha @ "them" throwing in the "nigger" at the end. That's mad funny to me.



not surprised tho.

 

Do you guys remember when Ralph Lauren and Hilfiger did the same thing in the early 90's? It's so nuts, because for us these brands are aspirational and we just want to be part of the American dream as well. All of these fashion houses started in the 1800, Louis Vuitton started in 1854 so they have a strong heritage but it really sucks they don't want us to be part of it! I support all these brands so I am guilty of it myself. Then again LV is supposed to be doing a shoe with Kanye, so I guess.... I don't know!

 

Why the hell do we keep supporting these f*cking companies that dont give a sh*t about us. We need to wake up and start being smart. Im sure there are some companies out there that truly love and support Hip-Hop, that's where our support should be going. We all drunk Cristal, because of Hov and look at how that turned out. That would of never happened with Carnivo.....look it up!

 

I highly doubt its a racial thing. . well in a sense, yes-but then you have to think about how your product is being branded and displayed by others. . theyre prolly looking at it like its a violent promotional record, when it isnt.

whatever, blah..you get what i mean.

 

"Fuckin Suits" (C) Billy Walsh


When will they learn that the cease and desist shit DOES NOT HELP.

 

No one mentioned the obvious: how wack TI's lawyers must be. Anybody fresh out of law school could have told him he'd need the trademark owner's permission BEFORE filming a video prominently featuring trademarks he doesn't even own. Where do these rappers get their legal teams from?

It's not racism, it's called intellectual property law.

SMH.

 

of course that's assuming TI's lawyers have any idea what he's doing at any given time, which judging by his gun case is probably not an accurate assumption to make.

 

If LV started using (insert runway rapper) pictures without paying, that individual will be suing. I don't care how many LP's of T.I. that LV owns, LV isn't using the PSC label to promote LV. Why do people even give a f*** about this, it's stupid. So we couldn't see a T.I. video, check the news source. Tell me what the hell they've done for hip hop in the last 15 years. If anyone says f*** one of these rappers, they front like they wanna kill, but one of these corps says the same thing, and they want boycotts, pity parties, and say it's racially motivated. Like they didn't act an ass in public, and spent all that money on a white mans goods. If this is racially motivated, then why not support a black business? Oh, I guess we're too cheap.

 

you gotta understand, exactly whats happenning here with TI and Lou, jay and cristal. n what not is what hip-hop is supposed to do. they cant stand that we're encroaching on their "exclusive" luxuries and saturating the market with em. kids are gonna be extra louis crazy after that vid drops and theire gonna make money either way. by saying what theyre saying to TI now, their protecting what their 'usual' customers might want to hear, and doing exactly what motivates us, to us...which is telll us we cant. so either way they are gonna rake in billions off of the distict protest of TI's video. jus watch . when this stor is on the front page of yahoo or MSn. watch how much cash they make. heartless shit.

 

I bet he'll still be buying it though...like a abused dog that still goes back to the abuser...smh...there won't be any backlash...people will just keep buying and buying like clones and drones...

P.S. Hilfiger went on Oprah to shut that rumor down a long time ago...yet it still perpetuates on and on...

 

is this even for real or just a rumor? the same thing was said about cristal hilfiger and several others

ppl are gonna buy stuff cuz they see rappers in it so idk why they'd be mad

 

Instead of looking at this as a bad thing, it should fuel these hiphop moguls to create their own line of luxury accessories and keep it moving. Trust me, Gucci and LV will feel the sting of the loss of dollars.

@marcustroy when it came down to Tommy, from what I've heard that was a foul rumor. Remember Aaliyah was a model in 96-97.

 

Maybe they dnt want their brand associated with a convicted felon.....either way, turnin' down free publicity is baffling.

 

I seriously doubt it is a racial situation. More of a "I don't want a two time felon who recently got off a large gun charge who can potential damage and degrade the view of my highly esteemed product." It's just business. Like it or not.

The Tommy Hilfiger thing was someone twisting his words into something slanderous, he more so stated that he never though his product was viewed that way. Not that he didn't want people of color to view it. He just designed it one way and was interested that it got flipped the way it did.

I need more proof for Polo, because Ralph has always been pro-black.

More so, he tried to put the images in a video to promote himself and make dollars, without clearance from the brand. What did you think was gonna happen?

 

And niggas will continue to promote them....while we look at the FUBUs of the world like who the fuck is you...

 

@ Chris,

we rocked the Kani's & Fubu's but then they got wack and didn't evolve. And God forbid we create a brand w/ higher standard prices... then we're "robbing" our ppl. The brands legacy & longevity are part of the appeal also. No support = no longevity.

The Jordan shoe's (1-23) are the closest thing we have.

 

LV doesn't need any free promotion.
They never called T.I. the N word. That's just this blog trying to get more traffic. It worked on me! Now here I am reading some of these comments. Some of them are intelligent and informed, some not so much.
LV doesn't need T.I., a convicted felon, promoting their brand. It has nothing to do with the fact that he is black.
If race were the issue then LV wouldn't have started a joint venture, (Blason Jewelry) with Pharrell (he's black last time I checked) or the shoe company they are doing with Kanye (also black).
You can't even say LV is anti-urban or anti-rap. They have companies and events with black rappers. Kanye did his birthday party at the LV store on 57th street in NYC. Mad VIP style. Fuck outa here!!
They don't need T.I. !!

 

All they need to do is say Louis Vuitton and Gucci not hot then thats the end for the brand!

 

Ani, has probably touched on the topic best. I agree the LV and Gucci decision is about brand integrity. LV and Gucci have collectively spent over a billion dollars building and maintaining a brand over the years that is revered within the fashion industry and by artistic pundits alike. While I personally would reconsider the "shunning" of a Swing Ya Rag video I would not close my ears to the suggestion of it. I hate to say it but it's pretty short-sighted to say the reasoning for LV and Gucci's decision is based upon TI's race. Put your race cards away, at this point its a bit cliched. Unfortunately for TI, his image might, now, be a little too gritty for Gucci's and LV's primary consumer base; upper-middle class to upper-class families and a very strong European base. The latter is more of a guess on my part.

If it was me, I would like to share creative control of the video developing with TI, the production team and the director. Perhaps, there can be some way then to maintain some control over the final video product via post-editing. Then again, the "type" of audience should be considered, not the "race" type but the "exclusive, limited goods" type of audience.

At the end of the day LV and Gucci are businesses, their brand is the equivalent to your current children or your future child. They're probably doing what they can to protect their baby. Hate it or love it.

 

point is...t.i's lawyer has nothin 2 do wit wha they called him. if they dont want him to promote their shit....then fine thats them, but throwin in that word n ppl says its not bein racial is crazy. its was uncalled for. like if a white person was walkin by a blk person n they said excuse me ni**er, would it not sound racist as all hell? an excuse me would have done its justice.