Pirelli Attempts to Hip-Hop the Vote

Pirelli Tire North America and the Hip Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) have teamed up to produce 15-second public service announcements with leading Hip Hop artists encouraging young people to register and get out to vote. The announcements feature rappers Snoop Dogg and Lloyd Banks and Young Buck of G-Unit, telling young people that that they should get out and vote using the slogan: “Power is Nothing Without Control.”

HSAN is a non-profit organization chaired by media mogul Russell Simmons and led by Dr Ben Chavis, a civil rights veteran who worked under Dr. Martin Luther King and was the former National Executive director/CEO of the NAACP. HSAN seeks to promote social responsibility in the urban arena and the positive aspects of the Hip Hop movement. Its goal is to use Hip Hop to effect positive social change. Pirelli agreed to lend HSAN it’s ‘Power Is Nothing Without Control’ tag earlier this year as a way of promoting its values of controlled use of power and social responsibility. “The interpretation of ‘Power Is Nothing Without Control’ is a clear call for taking control of one’s life and voting,” said Dr Chavis.