How does the rapper/actor/entrepreneur choose which brands he works with?
“I literally align myself with brands nowadays that are a part of my everyday lifestyle,” said Ludacris on the Brand Innovators Influential Beach Stage at Cannes. “Ask my family. My wife is here today. I eat peanut butter every single day.”
He teamed up with Jif on a humorous spot, in which he shows how eating peanut butter while recording impacts his work.
He also worked with Stella Artois on a campaign, which he said also goes along with his lifestyle since he has an album called “Chicken and Beer.” In one spot, Ludacris is at dinner with Zoe Saldaña and Matt Damon. When Saldaña asks him if he could have dinner with anyone, who would it be, Ludacris calls actor Jeremy White from The Bear for advice.
Insurance is a very important part of Ludacris’ life as well. “I insured my voice,” he said during the panel. “So if anything happens to my voice, I get paid for it…that’s my number one asset.” Working with State Farm, Ludacris starred in a State Farm spot which shows a “ludacrious” broken faucet.
The rapper is also working with Google. He starred in an out-of-home spot in Times Square, in which an avatar of the rapper showed consumers how to take a hands-free selfie on the Samsung Z Flip 4. He also featured in a Buying Black campaign, which promotes shopping Black-owned businesses. “You have to support Black businesses because it’s very important in understanding the Black dollar, how far the Black dollar goes, and reinvest that money back into the community,” he said.
The rapper got his start as a DJ in Atlanta for the media company Black-owned media company Urban One. CEO Alfred Liggins moderated the conversation and the two discussed the importance of how Black media companies help build careers.
“I came from Urban One and you provided a safe space for me to be 100% authentic to who I am,” Ludacris told Liggins. “All I did was expand what the opportunity and the platform that you gave me. You invested in me…that’s a perfect example of why and how we need to invest more into Black culture.”
The two noted how brands are working more with Black artists. “Black culture has had an entertainment impact for a very long time but now it’s been having an equal marketing impact and people are using it in order to drive popular consumer consumption,” Ludacris said.
The rapper also performed on the Influential Brand Innovators Beach Stage the same evening.
