It may sound like an innocuous jingle. But listen again: this commercial for St. Ides malt liquor has all the subtlety of a drive-by shooting. Broadcast on urban contemporary radio stations, the spot compares a bottle of the potent brew to a Smith & Wesson handgun. A few lines later, it alludes to pouring liquor “out on the curb for the homies,” a reference, in urban parlance, to the tradition of dumping beer into the street in honor of an absent–often deceased–gang member. The performer? The rapper Ice Cube, former member of the gangster rap group NWA.
First there was street chic. Now Madison Avenue is taking the concept one step further: this year it’s pushing gang chic. In an attempt to cash in on the multimillion-dollar market for urban-inspired goods, experts say, a small but increasingly visible group of marketers is using tough-guy imagery to sell everything from malt liquor to music. Earlier this year a commercial for Snickers featured a youngster emblazoning an inner-city wall with the candy bar’s name-evoking a gang practice of “tagging” walls with graffiti. An ad for Coty Wild Musk perfume headlined THE WILD ONES featured a model wearing what resembles a belt full of bullets around his waist. And a back-to-school newspaper insert by the retailer Ross Stores Inc. shows small children in overalls, bandannas and crooked caps–styles often associated with street gangs. Many–though not all–of the ads are targeted at youth. “Kids look up to gang members as hip and cool,” says Steve Valdivia, executive director of Community Youth Gang Services in Los Angeles. “And the mass media has tapped into that.”
When does the quest for hipness go too far? A fine line exists between marketing that simply portrays urban culture and that which glamorizes violence. Spokesmen for Snickers, Ross and Coty say gangs were the farthest thing from anyone’s mind when they created their commercials and that the ads depict urban culture, not violence. Even St. Ides officials claim there is no connection between their rap ads and street gangs. “If people are reading that into our campaign, they are seeing something that’s not there,” says spokesman Minott Wessinger. “We’re just trying to sell some beer.”
That explanation doesn’t wash with anti-gang organizations. Marianne Diaz-Parton, a gang expert in Los Angeles, believes many of the ads are not simply distasteful, but are also life threatening. “It’s chic to be a gang member, or at least to look and act like one, And kids are being shot for wearing [gang] styles.” Regulatory agencies have no jurisdiction over the ads’ contents; gang imagery is not illegal. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is looking into St. Ides’s marketing approach. (The investigation comes on the heels of an inquiry into ads for Power-Master malt liquor, which critics say pushed the drink’s high-alcohol content.) The BATF is confining its investigation to such matters as whether the ads link St. Ides with enhanced sexual prowess. Meanwhile, some community groups are pressuring advertisers to end gang exploitation. “We want the message to kids to be that violence is unacceptable,” says Valdivia. But as long as the law is on its side and there are profits to be made, Madison Avenue is sure to keep playing to the homies.
