Pop culture giving weak dollar a bad rap

updated 6:17 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2007

NEW YORK - When people start talking about rappers and supermodels shunning the dollar, you know there's a problem.

As the greenback recently hit historic lows against other major currencies, rap mogul Jay-Z released a new video in which he flashes euros, not dollars. It was also widely reported last week that one of the world's richest supermodels, Gisele Bundchen, opted to be paid in euros because of the dollar's weak outlook. Her spokeswoman has denied that the model was spurning the dollar, saying Bundchen is paid in the currency of a job's location.

Nevertheless, the euro bought an all-time record $1.4752 on Friday and the British pound has also been trading at its highest levels against the dollar since the early 1980s. The Canadian dollar, often called the "Loonie," reached parity with the dollar in September for the first time since 1976, and has climbed steadily since.

While investors, multinational businesses and travelers have been witnessing the dollar's slide for years, pop culture is new territory.

Jay-Z's "Blue Magic" video seems to have been an attempt to acknowledge the dollar's decline in an ironic way and to paint the artist as an international superstar who is smarter than those accepting greenbacks.

"It is probably a particularly good strategy as the 'image of the dollar' loses its 'currency' as an emblem of extravagance and success," Steven Tepper, associate director of Vanderbilt University's Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy, said in an e-mail. "So, you have the combination of a weakening visual icon — the dollar — and a growing international audience that will understand and connect to the image of the euro."

As for Gisele, she would not have been the first to favor contracts in other currencies — others include billionaire investor Warren Buffett and PIMCO Managing Director Bill Gross.

"Any international business person that is moving assets around the world will want to do as many deals in the strongest currency available, which is certainly not the dollar these days," Tepper added.

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