Dimes for Rhymes

I find this pretty strange... I also see it as something that can only be pulled off in the world of hip-hop music.

It seems McDonald's has hired a marketing firm to try to find hip hop artists willing to name drop the Big Mac in their songs in exchange for cash. They're not offering any cash up front, though. Apparently, it's a "pay-for-play" thing. They are reportedly offering the artist anywhere from $1-$5 for every time the song is played on the radio.

I thought this was crazy, but apparently, it's not really anything new. I didn't realize this, but Busta Rhymes was paid nicely for his song "Pass the Courvoisier" by the cognac maker and Kanye West received a nice bit of change for his Seagram's namedropping...

As I said earlier, this strange bit of advertising only really goes over in hip hop music. I mean, could you picture someone like Bruce Dickenson dropping a Big Mac plug in the middle of an Iron Maiden song? (Just as I said that, a rock person came to mind that would probably do it at the drop of a hat - KISS's Gene Simmons - although he may want the name of the sandwich temporarily changed to a "KISSBurger" or a "Big KISS" or something...)

It's worth noting that big brands like Bentley, Rolex, Cristal, Gucci, Mercedes, Dom Perignon, etc. get plugged in hip hop songs all the time and don't have to pay a dime for it. Kinda makes you wonder... The rappers can lure all the women in with promises of Cristal and Rolex bling and all that... but how will a girl react to the offers of gin and BigMacs?

Listening to: ManMadeGod