Hip-hop culture is incredibly special, influential, powerful... and in the United States' cultural marketplace susceptible to commercial exploitation, highly profitable. Moreover, controversies can pop up every once in a while concerning companies or brands either appreciating rap culture for the better or misusing its impact and pop culture ubiquity in insensitive ways. As such, many folks are split on which of these two categories Cookie Plug, a California-based multi-state bakery shop, falls into. The reason why is due to their Indianapolis franchise's hip-hop-themed nomenclature for their items and the marketing behind them. But it's not all that bad, at least with the information we have from a XXL report.
Furthermore, some menu items are very much innocuous, such as a "So So Icy" ice cream sandwich and packaging that boasts the message "Thank you for supporting your neighborhood doughp dealer." However, other items such as the "Purple Drank" purple lemonade, referring to lean, rub customers the wrong way, including Indianapolis resident Feeray Phillips. "When the franchise is not aware of what the terminology they’re dealing with and, to be honest, tropes as gimmicks to sell people lemonade and children lemonade, that’s a problem," they told the local news outlet WISHTV.
Cookie Plug's Recent IG Promo
Still, the team behind Cookie Plug doesn't really have any problem with how they've handled, promoted, or branded their products. Co-owner Doreen Walters recently pushed back against this negativity, seemingly suggesting that there isn't a lot of overtly negative connotations with something like "Purple Drank." "Those comments are hurtful so I’m not even watching it," she expressed. "I grew up at this time and I’ve never done drugs. 'Purple Drank' is just that, 'purple drank.' It’s lemonade."
Meanwhile, with these isolated examples in mind, it's hard to call whether or not this cookie chop is engaging in cultural appropriation or if they're just showing love. After all, there's not a lot of accessible information at press time about the origins of Cookie Plug, the specific Indianapolis location's ownership, and other important factors that could answer that question. If you're in the city, keep an eye out and make that judgement for yourself. But supporting a business and supporting hip-hop, as much as they are two amazing initiatives, are hard to truly mix together.
