Vodka Companies Attack Diddy for Saying that Other Vodka is 'Pee Pee'

UPDATE:
Georgi Vodka owner responds to P. Diddy's vodka challenge with toilet bowl full of Ciroc vodka

The rapper Diddy is in hot water after making a statement touting his vodka, called Ciroc. In a move that offended others in his industry, Diddy said, that "If it ain't Ciroc....then you're drinking pee pee." He made the statement last week while jumping on stage at a New York City night club.

This sent other Vodka manufacturers into an uproar, leading to a counter attack against Diddy. Martin Silver, owner of Georgi Vodka, a rival company, held a major press conference stating that Diddy must apologize for his remarks. If Diddy does not apologize by March 25, Silver plans to dump bottles of Ciroc Vodka (the one that Diddy owns) into a large toilet and deliver it to Diddy's office. Others in the vodka industry are refusing to comment on this incident.

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Diddy Does it Up

At the 2007 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Diddy took it all the way formal in a real tuxedo instead of a super-fancy suit. I wonder if he really never wears the same thing twice, as he has claimed in the past.

Evan Agostini, Getty Images

BlackVoices.com

Diddy Does it Up

Is this the Diddy we have all come to know and love? The year was 1997, and the event is the opening of Sean Comb's now defunct Justin's restaurant. With that baby face and ill-fitting suit, Diddy, then Puff Daddy, looks like a kid who's been playing in his father's closet.

Diddy Does it Up

A long-time player in the game called "hip hop mogul," Diddy played tough guy with fellow baller Jay-Z in 2000. They both look a little ashy. Is that a wash cloth is Comb's back pocket? Lord.

Diddy Does it Up

Continuing to try to keep it real, Diddy dated felow middle-class urbanite Jennifer Lopez in 2000. As Lopez rocked her fake Latina gang member do rag, Combs strutted the red carpet pretending to be a princely thug. The curved cap rim gave him away -- no thug would do that! Incidentally, this was around the time Combs and Lopez were arrested for involvement in a shoot out in a nightclub -- thug enough for ya?

Diddy Does it Up

Um. I don't know what to say here, except wrong, wrong, wrong and NEXT!!!! The year 2000 was a very bad year for the artist formerly known as Puffy's style sense.

Diddy Does it Up

Unfortunately, 2001 was also not a very good year. Puff hit the streets in the type of wide-legged baggy pants that should be reserved for a 'Fat Albert' character.

Diddy Does it Up

Always known as a great performer, Diddy took to the stage in 2002 to show the world that he is a devout Mets fan in head-to-toe gear. Still a little childish. Would Diddy's style ever transform?

Diddy Does it Up

Again modeling his look after a member of the 'Fat Albert' cast, poor Puff hit Fashion Week dressed like the bass player in the Junkyard Band in an over-sized Kangol hat. He was at a 2001 Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show people!!!! SHM. But I can't talk. I would get an all-white suit immediately dirty.

Diddy Does it Up

Then, BAM! In 2003, Diddy made the change from fashion misfit to trendsetter. He filled out a little bit, and took to the runway of his own fashion show to take a bow in a well-cut suit. It's a little shiny, and the sleeves are short, but he looks good!

Diddy Does it Up

Continuing on a winning streak, Puff hit the 2003 MTV Movie Awards red carpet in a very mature linen suit, while sporting the super-dark sunglasses that he has worn since the beginning of his career. Most Scorpios love to cover the eyes which they say are the window to the soul. Or maybe they help block the paparazzi's glare.

Diddy Does it Up

In 2003, Diddy wore casual outifts without having to pull off a "thug" costume, as in earlier years. After the papes come, you can be effortlessly yourself. There go those shades again.

Diddy Does it Up

This kind of war between corporations is rare and can sometimes be destructive. Rather than working with other vodka makers to maintain market share, Diddy is using hip hop tactics to make consumers doubt the quality of other brands. On one hand, this is against protocol according to basic business school 101 practices, because wars between companies don't help those companies selling the products. Both firms may be pushed to lower their prices to keep their market share, causing both firm to have reduced profits. Each company also has to spend money out-doing the other with publicity stunts and additional advertising. On the other hand, the consumer may win in this kind of war, since lower prices may allow them to buy the products at a lower price.

The other school of thought is that the public battle may help both companies. Diddy knows quite well that rappers who have beef usually sell more records. So, by having a beef with another vodka company, Diddy may be pushing his company to the top of the pile. The other company owners may also understand the value of the beef, which is why Silver may have been so grandiose in his response to Diddy. It must have worked, because there's no other reason that I'd be writing about vodka right now.

Brand awareness has tremendous value, so Diddy might have scored a couple of points. At the very least, a few hundred thousand new people now know the name of Ciroc Vodka because of this incident.

Lawrence Watkins is the CEO of The Great Black Speakers Bureau and an MBA student at Cornell University. For more information, please visit LawrenceWatkins.com.

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