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I agree with you that the comments were not a good business move, but I doubt it will have the impact you seem to predict. As a luxury product with a very limited output, I doubt sales have increased for the company with the popularity in hip hop circles. It is not as though Cristal can simply increase production on the basis of popularity. I think the true people who would feel the financial burden are those in U.S. resale. If the demand decreases, the price they can get will obviously decrease. This will probably not create loss for the actual manufacturer, whose prices are most likely fairly consistent, and set with the basis of the much larger international market. I wonder then if the clubs may also lose money, as the mark up they can reasonably place on lesser champagnes will probably not reach the level of Cristal. This is not to lessen the impact hip hop culture has on the financial world, however. If Phil Knight had made a similar statement, Nike could indeed feel the hit. I imagine Nike would produce as many sneakers as people would buy, and thus a drop in demand would automatically equal a drop in sales. But Cristal is gonna produce and sell 300,000 cases a year, regardless of of a decrease in demand. With the demand decrease limited only to the U.S., I highly doubt Cristal will even have reason to reduce their price. Once again, not what you would call a wise business decision, but when you make a quality product, you can often be snobby without much financial consequence (like a very popular chef who only serves only so many people a night). Sorry if this seems to be stating the obvious regarding supply and demand, but when I post on here, I sometimes have to rationalize my arguments simply to keep my train of thought moving.
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