Common's Lincoln Mercury Deal Goes Beyond Endorsing the 2008 Lincoln Navigator

Common with the 2008 Lincoln Navigator

Common is entering a marketing partnership with Lincoln Mercury focused on promoting the 2008 Lincoln Navigator with additional aspects to the partnership.

From the press release:
Through an exclusive partnership with Lincoln, Common will appear in national television broadcast, radio and print advertisements, primarily focused on the all-new 2008 Lincoln Navigator. The first of the ads, titled "Common," will debut nationwide November 25 during NFL Sunday Night Football on NBC, and later appear on general market and urban schedules. The commercial spotlights the people, places and experiences that shaped his life in his hometown of Chicago. It segues to his present-day life as an enterprising, multitalented individual, continuing to reach higher, yet still deeply rooted in his community. His understated confidence, authenticity, and distinctive sense of style echoes the personality of the Lincoln Navigator. The print and radio ads will premiere in 2008.

Lincoln will additionally work with Common in developing other online and offline cross-promotional and marketing programs across his diversified businesses, including the licensing of songs for creative executions for television and the Web, tie-ins with Common's books and hat lines, as well as alignments with his concert tour. Common will also perform and make personal appearances on behalf of Lincoln at auto shows and dealer events, and be an integral component of the annual multiple-city Lincoln Lounge events.

Lincoln also plans to align itself with Common's nonprofit organization, the Common Ground Foundation, and will sponsor the first annual Start the Show n' Bowl fundraising event to be held February 2008 during Grammy weekend.

Common's a great endorser, in part, because he doesn't have Kanye's unpredictable behavior, 50 Cent's questionable nature or Jay-Z's tendency to overshadow all he endorses, though I guess nobody's too upset about the latter.

This obvious pr copy does a nice job of keying into the qualities with which endorsees wish to associate themselves that make Common such a high quality endorser:
His understated confidence, authenticity, and distinctive sense of style echoes the personality of the Lincoln Navigator.

And the fact that he's willing to explore a niche that crosses both conscious hip hop and pop culture means that sometimes he'll lend those special qualities to products that don't necessarily have to be safe or good for the environment.  And that's money in the bank!

Comments

[Slav]

Hold up. Common's endorsing an SUV? Given that he's also an Obama supporter (for which I ain't mad at him), doesn't that conflict with the Democrats "green" agenda? I'm not sure how Obama feels about SUVs and the environment, but I think Com's sending mixed messages to his fan base, which includes me.

[Clyde Smith]

I think Common sends a lot of mixed messages but this is one of those points when the tendencies of the wealthy and the demands of social responsibility tend to separate.

I also think that if this post gets traction in Google that you will be amazed at the range of rationalizations for why Common deserves to drive an SUV.

[smokefree]

Oh, so now Common should be hated for getting money? Last time I checked every rapper was earning off St. Ides. Leave Common alone.

[chitown's finest]

The man has been a positive rapper since the beginning. Dont fault him for wanting to at least get a smidgen of what other artists get on the regular. Cut the brotha some slack.

[soutien]

I am disheartened and enraged by Common's Lincoln commercial. The public knows of him only what he's shared. His lyrics present a conscientious, thoughtful individual, yet his new fraternization with Lincoln supports the very same disease his lyrics condemn. His words are empty when his actions betray them. Can he really reconcile such hypocrisy?

"The weak hearted become Babylon puppets..."

In Common's rhymes, he speaks about young people striving for the excess they're teased by; enticed into desiring that which directly results in their continued poverty [financial and spiritual]. With his association with Lincoln, he's legitimizing unprincipled impulsiveness; and encouraging compromising one's welfare for an obscene indulgence. An indulgence we have gone to war over [and over again]. Is it worth killing and dying for?

The paradoxes of this American life may excuse confusion around materialism, desire, self-indulgence and entitlement, but there is NO excuse for the blatant hypocrisy of speaking the truth and then contributing directly to its defeat.

Lincoln's partnership with Common seems to be nothing but pure greed. Using the children his organization strives to help in order to push their last ditch effort before the mainstream "green"-washing, is unconscionable. To say nothing of the bad taste in which Common's efforts are represented; driving through Chicago, reminding the less-advantaged of their smallness as he reminisces about riding the L, the kids watch him pull up in his shiny ride, and as he reads to the children, he says, "My dream is to help others achieve their dreams," then he returns to his enticing lifestyle in his gluttonous monster truck...it's absurd.

Would his impact be more clear if it were cigarettes he was handing to children? It's the same net [and gross] effect. He's selling them crack, then offering them rehab. When 50 sells the Devil's wasteful products -- while equally reprehensible -- at least it's aligned with how he presents himself: solely about the money, guns and pussy.

The Common Ground Foundation's mission states, "Common's social-conscience message serves as inspiration for equality, opportunity and hope among youth in underserved communities. The Foundation is committed to empowering youth in urban neighborhoods and providing life skills needed to achieve their dreams." And now, with Common's endorsement, their hopes and dreams will ride in a Lincoln Navigator. It's not only hypocritical, it's unethical.

Common said, "I believe that this union will be creative, fresh, and classic. Most importantly, it's a way for Lincoln and me to give back to the community and people in need." The money -- and the benefits he thinks he's receiving -- from his deal with the Devil don't offset a fraction of the damage caused by pumping this wanton "luxury." The new Lincoln Navigator gets 12 miles to the gallon, consumes 24.5 barrels of petroleum and emits 13.1 tons of CO2 each year, successfully contributing to the genocide of Middle Eastern people, and the relentless destruction of our ecosystem. What will become of the children's hopes and dreams in the wake of these crises?

Ford Motor Company makes a hybrid SUV. Did they only offer Common "alignment" with his organization if he pushed their gas-guzzling, war-profiteering Lincoln brand to his fans and the impressionable youth he strives to serve?

It is truly a challenge in these times to resist the bullshit, but the righteous especially must expose and reject hypocrisy. If we exploit each other to get "ahead," those underserved children won't survive to realize their dreams.

Common demeans himself and all of us by speaking about justice and simultaneously promoting the ultimate injustice; greed, excessive consumption, and flagrant manipulation to purchase a product which only benefits its corporate sponsors...at the expense of this planet and all its inhabitants.

He must have accepted this deal because he thinks the money will allow him to support his goals. However noble they are, ultimately it's a LOSE, LOSE situation for him and those he is trying to support, as they learn important lessons about materialism, self-indulgence and consumption, and very little about community building and right conduct -- yet it's a big WIN for Ford. Congratulations, Common, on your 21st century chains.