Grab a Brewsky and Enjoy a Great Community Backlash

Yes I have to admit it, I love a good community backlash every once in a while. Especially when it relates to companies that peddle their unhealthy goods to young people in minority communities. And more so when the advertising and marketing in front of these efforts get exposed when they go overboard or are deemed immoral or culturally inappropriate.

The beer industry has invested heavily in marketing aimed at Latinos. And nearly every month I come across new beer ads aimed at Hispanics or news reports about new advertising campaigns aimed at this market.

In today's edition of The Wall Street Journal, under the title "The Beer Industry's Embrace of Hispanic Market Prompts a Backlash from Activisits," reporter Miriam Jordan pens the Advertising column which may cause some panic in the marketing divisions of the major beer producers (you know editors believe a story is real newsy when it's teased on the very top of the front page of the paper).

Here's how she summarizes the situation: "Facing stagnant beer sales, an aging population and the blossoming appeal of wine, the nation's biggest brewers are aggressively courting Hispanics, the fastest-growing and youngest population group in the U.S. The brewers' efforts, including a burst of advertising aimed at Spanish-speaking consumers, have rankled community health activists and rekindled the debate about when marketing crosses the line into the realm of unfairly targeting an ethnic group."

The column features comments from Hispanic community organizations that treat addiction and one notes an increase in the number of Hispanic girls seeking treatment for alcohol abuse.

A V.P. at Anheuser-Busch tells Jordan: "We would disagree with anyone who suggests beer billboards increase abuse among Latino or other minority communities."

Who the heck is she kidding? After the tobacco industry got dragged before Congress for lying about addiction as well as the direct connections between advertising and cigarette use, you might assume the beer industry would muzzle the spokespeople who would be most likely to make similar statements about their own efforts and products.

Jordan cites academic and journal-published medical research, one of which "found greater exposure to alcohol ads contributes to an increase in drinking among youth." She reports that "Advertising-related or not, drinking rates among Hispanic teens are alarming."

I'm not a doctor but I can guess what contributes to an increase in alcohol abuse among youth: increased drinking among youth. It's amazing how it all works.

In my graduate-level ethnic marketing course at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, I teach my students to consider the potential consequences of every single ad that targets specific ethnic communities. Whether their clients are perceived by the public as the "good guys" or the "bad guys" they have to be extra cautious when communicating with individual communities because of the greater potential for public opposition. This includes careful use of language and learning about cultural sensitivities. Many of the best corporate advertisers in these ethnic or emerging markets will include community leaders in the process of reviewing advertising campaigns before they "go live." It not only can inoculate them against certain attacks, but it can help ensure the advertising is appropriate.

I have noticed that the beer industry advertises heavily in Hispanic publications and devotes a decent portion of these ads to positive portrayals of the community and what I like to call "pat-on-the-back" ads that applaud something positive in the community or on the community calendar (like Hispanic Heritage Month or Cinco de Mayo) while branding their beer products.

Jordan reports on how the community backlash is taking shape: "Activists are taking on Spanish-language beer commercials. The National Latino Council in February complained to the Federal Trade Commission about a Bud Light commercial that it says is a thinly veiled endorsement of underage drinking."