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"Russell Simmons called for a boycott of the soft drink giant Pepsi\nat a press conference today in New York. Simmons, the chairman of\nthe Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, was joined by the organization&amp;apos;s\nPresident Ben Chavis, who began the conference by announcing the\nboycott and the Hip-Hop Summit&amp;apos;s demands for Pepsi: &amp;quot;One week from\ntoday we&amp;apos;re asking all artists and supporters of hip-hop to refrain\nfrom supporting Pepsi and all Pepsico products,&amp;quot; Chavis said. &amp;quot;The\n&amp;apos;Campaign for Respect&amp;apos; will continue until Pepsi agrees to all of\nthe following: Issue an apology to Ludacris and the hip-hop\ncommunity, make a five-million dollar charitable contribution to\nthe Ludacris foundation, reinstate the Ludacris commercial ads.&amp;quot;\nThe controversy began six months ago when Pepsi decided to pull\nan advertising campaign featuring Atlanta rapper Ludacris, who also\nrecords for Simmons&amp;apos; Def Jam label. The deal fell through shortly\nafter TV commentator Bill O&amp;apos;Reilly criticized Pepsi&amp;apos;s choice of\nLudacris as a spokesperson because of the rapper&amp;apos;s vulgar lyrics.\nThe Osbournes, famous for their use of foul language, are current\nPepsi pitch people.\n&amp;quot;I want to make it very clear this has nothing to do with race;\nit has to do with culture,&amp;quot; Simmons said. &amp;quot;Pepsi had every right to\ntheir opinion. If they said, &amp;apos;We&amp;apos;re worried maybe the language [of\nLudacris] is not right, we decide not to use him,&amp;apos; that&amp;apos;s fine. But\nwhen they went ahead and put the Osbournes in their campaign . . .\nThe idea that Ludacris&amp;apos; language wasn&amp;apos;t acceptable? Ludacris is a\ncollege kid, not a gangster rapper as Bill O&amp;apos;Reilly suggested. I&amp;apos;m\nsure the people at Pepsi knew that.&amp;quot;\nWhether or not Pepsi makes the Hip-Hop Summit&amp;apos;s concessions in\nthe next week before the boycott officially begins, Simmons is\nconfident that the demands will eventually be met and is already\nlooking ahead to the benefits of reconciliation. &amp;quot;I know they&amp;apos;re\ngoing to buckle,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;We&amp;apos;re excited about the possibility of\nPepsi and Ludacris getting together and finding foundations and\nprograms in our community for kids at risk because that&amp;apos;s what the\nfoundation is for.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hip-hoppers-boycott-pepsi-20030205>