A Reebok television spot featuring rap artist 50 Cent is drawing growing complaints in the U.K. that it glorifies gun violence.
With screams and sirens blaring in the background, the ad shows a grinning 50 Cent counting to nine for the number of times he was shot in a 2000 assassination attempt in Queens.
He laughs when a voice at the end asks: “Tell me, who do you plan to massacre next?”
Last week, Mothers Against Guns called for a boycott of Reebok goods, while 36 complaints about the ad have been lodged with the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority, according to the BBC and other reports.
This marks the second anti-gun group to protest the spot. In March, the Disarm Trust called the ads “irresponsible” and “despicable” and accused the company of preying on young, black males.
Reebok has denied that it condones violence or guns, and has tried to frame the controversy as a debate over freedom of speech.
“Reebok does not condone or support every choice, view or action of the many athletes and entertainers who wear our products, however, we do support their individuality and their right to express themselves,” the company said in a prepared statement.
The 50 Cent spot is part of Reebok’s “I am what I am” campaign, which also features hip-hop impresario Shawn “Jay Z” Carter, basketball bad boy Allen Iverson, actress Lucy Liu and tennis phenom Andy Roddick.
The campaign, created by New York agency McGarry Bowen, is also running in the U.S.
Reebok said the 50 Cent spot has aired here, apparently generating little or no protest.
A former drug dealer, 50 Cent has emerged as one of the most popular and controversial figures in hip-hop.
He recently drew headlines here after he got into a fracas with the Game, a former member of his G-Unit posse. The two men later held a press conference in Harlem to end the fight between their rival camps.