BigShinyThing

It would appear that misguided snobbery is alive and well in the ranks of the family business that makes one of the world’s most expensive champagnes. Maybe the brand’s new managing director Frederic Rouzaud assumed he was amongst friends when he moaned to The Economist about how a brand should deal with ‘unwelcome attention’. When asked what he thought of the brand’s adoption by the rap fraternity he was quoted as replying:

That’s a good question, but what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business

Sadly for him, this remark was picked up by the BBC and a week later came to the attention of rap megastar Jay-Z. Then, unsurprisingly, all hell broke loose. The rapper said he would pull Cristal from his small chain of popular sports lounges — where bottles of Cristal sell for $450 (€357) and $600 (€476) — as well as from his personal flutes.

“It has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the ‘hip-hop’ culture as ‘unwelcome attention,”‘ Jay-Z said in a statement released last Wednesday.

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.

Jay-Z plans to replace Cristal — which a club spokesman said it could never stock enough of — with Krug and Dom Perignon at the Manhattan and Atlantic City locations of his 40/40 Club. (There are plans for clubs in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong, according to the club’s Web site.)

Good going, Cristal.