From P. Diddy’s promotion of Deleon Tequila to Rick Ross’ hype man act for Rare Rosé, hip-hop power players and alcohol brands are as perfect a pairing as Eric B. and Rakim. The latest rapper to jump on the bandwagon? None other than everyone’s favorite smooth-talking West Coaster Snoop Dogg, who is lending his name to a new wine label from Australian wine brand 19 Crimes.
But Snoop is doing things a bit differently. While most rappers are content with just dropping a reference to their chosen brand in their latest track, Snoop is lending his face and voice to the new Snoop Cali Red wine, launching on Wednesday — courtesy of a bit of augmented reality magic from AR studio Tactic.
For those who have never seen one of 19 Crimes’ Living Wine Labels, here’s how it works: Users download the Living Wine Labels app for iOS or Android, then hold their mobile device up to the label, and see the label spring to life with a short animation and added audio. In this case, that’s one of several specially recorded Snoop Dogg messages that promise to bring a dose of the rapper’s legendarily laid back vibe to wherever you’re planning to sip your red, red wine.
“The big idea was actually moving from historic figures — Irish convicts who were banished to Australia — to a contemporary personality,” John Wardley, 19 Crimes’ marketing vice president, told Digital Trends. “This came straight out of the brand values — anti-authority, rule-breaking, culture creation, and redemption. We realized these values are timeless and when we put a contemporary lens on them, the first person we thought of was Snoop. We were determined to get a partnership with him. Fortunately, Snoop also liked the 19 Crimes brand and respected that we were the very first wine to bring the label to life through augmented reality. The idea of Cali Red was born: 19 Crimes’ first California-sourced wine with a true California icon front and center on the label.”
This isn’t just about putting more money in Snoop’s pockets, though. In conjunction with the launch, 19 Crimes is donating $100,000 to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Fund, supporting the 10,000 people — the majority of whom are Black or people of color — who have been arrested throughout the U.S. during the recent anti-racism protests.
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