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Aug 02, 2006

baking soda sales and rap music · by Rafi Kam

During the recent Cristal story we learned that some pundits feel that what happens in rap music stays in rap music and really won’t have an impact on a company’s bottom line.

I would like to direct their attention to the stock chart of Church and Dwight which is the parent company of Arm & Hammer, the leading brand of baking soda.

After analyzing the chart it should be nearly impossible to argue against the direct connection between crack music and crack production.

Oh Word has gone ahead and enhanced the chart with notes showing what was going on along the way:

Imagine you’re a company and you have a product in trouble.

It cleans up the smell of refrigerators but everyone’s using tupperware. It’s essential for making a model volcano but nobody cares anymore about science fairs. What do you do?

That’s the real question, isn’t it?

Who benefited from crack rap? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?

Comments for "baking soda sales and rap music"

  1. word. arm & hammer – not just for refreshening the fridge anymore!


    — khal    Aug 2, 11:50 AM   

  2. Perhaps not so coincidentally Arm & Hammer’s one time owner, Armand Hammer, died shortly before the end of the original crack era.—> http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_198.html


    — fresh    Aug 2, 12:12 PM   

  3. I wish your marketing humor columns were funny enough to write about but I’ll keep reading them till you figure it out.

    On a related note, could you give me the reference on this:
    “During the recent Kristal story we learned that some pundits feel that what happens in rap music stays in rap music and really won’t have an impact on a company’s bottom line.”

    I didn’t read anybody who said that, not even me, and you know I was obsessively tracking the debate.

    Oh, wait, it’s a joke.

    Well, I’ve already learned to laugh at myself so I think I’ll enroll elsewhere.

    But I won’t forget your help and I’ll still keep checking on the off chance that you’ll find a way to make your humor meaningful.

    Thanks for everything!


    — Clyde Smith    Aug 2, 04:33 PM   

  4. nobody really understands all the periphery companies that ‘cake up’ from crack rap. thanks for shining the light on ‘em Raf. I need to go into the lab and cook up a post to match this joint.


    — Billy Sunday    Aug 2, 04:40 PM   

  5. Clyde, Jay-Z told me to never argue with a fool so I’m not going to get into it with your hating baiting comments.

    For the record, it was Advertising Age and a number of bloggers and commenters that suggested the Cristal boycott would have no real impact.

    Leave it to you to take issue with that in a piece like this though.

    I’ll save you the trouble – the Fat Boys didn’t really nearly bankrupt Sbarro’s during the filming of Krush Groove either.


    — Rafi    Aug 2, 05:40 PM   

  6. You sound vaguely serious, Mr. “I Really Shouldn’t Be On Camera in the First Place”. Maybe you need to study some of those lessons you gave me!

    In any case, did any of them actually say
    “what happens in rap music stays in rap music and really won’t have an impact on a company’s bottom line”?

    Or is that your spin?


    — Clyde Smith    Aug 2, 08:31 PM   

  7. I don’t mean literally word for word but it seemed that everybody recognized that hip hop had affected the bottom lines of many companies and the arguments I was seeing regarded whether or not the Cristal boycott would affect Roederer.

    And I’m really only following up because of your for the record comment that does seem vaguely serious, despite the overall context.


    — Clyde Smith    Aug 2, 08:35 PM   

  8. Rafi, please give Clyde your fax number so he can submit his resume to be your official weed carrier/ umbrella holder.


    — Billy Sunday    Aug 2, 09:58 PM   

  9. Dallas Penn Superstar!

    I am not worthy.


    — Clyde Smith    Aug 2, 10:22 PM   

  10. Clyde, your sad attempts for attention are starting to feel like spam to me.

    Accordingly I’m banning your IP.


    — Rafi    Aug 2, 11:58 PM   

  11. Go home Clyde. No one likes you.


    — Epitome    Aug 3, 01:05 AM   

  12. Hey Rafi,

    don’t ban his IP yet because I could an umbrella holder (extra no Lance Bass Fonzworth Bentley)


    — Dallas    Aug 3, 04:12 AM   

  13. Hey Rafi,

    don’t ban his IP yet because I could use an umbrella holder (extra no Lance Bass Fonzworth Bentley)


    — Dallas    Aug 3, 04:13 AM   

  14. Who is this Clyde Chumnall? At any rate, monumental work in the three Cs of redundantly dope department.


    — sankofa    Aug 3, 03:45 PM   

  15. yeeea wad up, let me wang


    — forreal b my name    Dec 4, 11:25 AM   

  16. chingo bllliiiinnng sun


    — forreal b my name    Dec 4, 11:26 AM