Barbie Branded: The Wins & Fails Of Nicki Minaj Endorsement Deals
Barbie Branded: The Wins And Fails Of Nicki Minaj Endorsement Deals
There aren’t too many musicians in the music industry today that can claim, boast about or even dream of having the success of self-proclaimed queen of rap, Nicki Minaj.
Entering the world of hip-hop in 2003 by way of a forgettable rap group that included ex-boyfriend Safaree Samuels, Nicki soon rose to fame on her own as a solo emcee during the mixtape boom of the late 2000s. By 2010 she was signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money collective, and her debut album Pink Friday proved to be the start of a very successful career in not just rap but pop music overall.
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Jump to just over a decade later, the Queen femcee has extended her brand well outside of music to include major endorsement deals with some of the biggest companies across the globe.
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Her latest biz deal with Rap Snacks unfortunately got the Barbz’ head honcho in trouble with the real Mattel, who said in their recently-filed lawsuit, “Mattel encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to talk about and share their Barbie experiences, and to celebrate their enthusiasm for Barbie. Occasionally, however, some put profits ahead of play and seek commercial gain by manufacturing, promoting and selling Barbie-branded products without Mattel’s permission….This is such a case.”
The lawsuit went on to add, “Rap Snacks made the deliberate and calculated choice to launch a new product line using Mattel’s famous BARBIE trademark. That choice, made without any prior notice to Mattel, was unlawful.”
We’ll get more into that later — no worries though, Barbz; your queen wasn’t listed as a defendant on the case! However, the news did reminds of how deep the Minaj brand goes when it comes to partnering up for profit.
Source: Dave M. Benett / Getty
From moscato to M.A.C., streaming services to sports betting, take a look at some of the wins and losses that Nicki Minaj has faced in 10 of her recent brand partnerships:
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3. WIN: MYX Fusions
You can still get yourself some of Nicki Lewinski’s latest libations by MYX, which she serves as co-owner of alongside Mona Scott-Young and CEO Peter Reaske. Now that’s a win!
8. WIN: TIDAL
The epic #TIDALforALL event of 2015 that helped launch Jay-Z’s streaming service, while also announcing artists themselves would have equity in the company, prominently included Nicki in the business plan. Almost a decade later and it’s still proving to be a huge win for all.
