LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The latest ad campaign aimed at cultivating a new Pepsi generation among minority consumers has lost a lot of its fizz.

Pepsi-Cola of North America said Wednesday that it was was yanking its 30-second television spot featuring rapper Ludacris off the air because of consumer complaints about his sexually explicit, profanity-laden lyrics.

"We have a responsibility to listen to our consumers and customers and we've heard from a number of people that were uncomfortable with our association with this artist," the PepsiCo Inc. unit said in a statement.

"We've decided to discontinue our ad campaign with this artist and we're sorry that we've offended anyone."

A spokeswoman for the rap star's label, Def Jam, said she was "shocked" to learn Pepsi was pulling the ads. She had no other immediate comment.

The move comes a day after cable TV's Bill O'Reilly, host of Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," assailed Pepsi as "immoral" for using Ludacris to promote its product and urged his viewers to boycott the beverage company.

"I'm calling for all responsible Americans to fight back and punish Pepsi for using a man who degrades women, who encourages substance abuse, and does all the things that hurt particularly the poor in our society," O'Reilly said.

'WORD OF MOUF'

He cited lyrics from a song on the 2001 Ludacris album "Word of Mouf," in which the hip-hop artist raps the refrain, "I've got ho's in different area codes," using street slang for the word "whores."

Ludacris was one of several entertainers, including Colombian-born singer Shakira and TV star Bernie Mac, enlisted by Pepsi this year as part of a new "multicultural" ad campaign aimed at minorities.

The Ludacris spots, showing him performing and drinking Pepsi, began airing nationally in June, Pepsi spokesman Bart Casabona said.

The Atlanta-based Ludacris, one of the biggest names in hip-hop's "Dirty South" movement, has earned a reputation as among the most carnally oriented of the chart-topping rappers on urban radio.

"I don't think we knew the extent" to which his material was sexually explicit, Casabona said, adding that the decision to drop the ads was "driven by the responses from our consumers."

Ludacris was not the first recording star to land Pepsi in hot water. After paying Madonna a reported $5 million for a yearlong contract, Pepsi in 1989 dropped a commercial featuring the pop singer. It claimed too many people confused it with the controversial video "Like A Prayer," in which Madonna appeared with stigmata wounds on her hands and sang in front of burning crosses.

Of course, that spot may seem tame compared to the provocative costumes and stage antics of pop princess Britney Spears, who has become one of Pepsi's biggest celebrity endorsers.

-- Anonymous, August 28, 2002