Re: Policing difficult to implement
Broadway
4/26/2012 3:02:52 PM
My apologies, Noreen. Forgot you mentioned that in your excellent blog. I am left then with the conclusion that drink companies should get out of certain questionable countries altogether -- the likes of Spain, Mexico (bullfighting), anywhere there's dog fighting (including the American South and most US metro areas), Thailand, Amsterdam -- anywhere there's the risk of marketing at or even having your product imbibed at events that certain segments of certain populations will deem offensive. Yeah ... I'm sure that will go over well with the C-suite and investors.
As for the brothels, I think the politicians give them all the sponsorship they need.
As I mentioned in the story, Heineken got into its first big issue by sponsoring bullfights in Spain.
Re: Policing difficult to implement
Broadway
4/25/2012 2:26:11 PM
@impactnow, good point. What beverage company sponsors the bullfights in Mexico? The coffee shops in Amsterdam? The brothels in Nevada? Particularly in countries with vastly different cultures, going in and telling them that you won't sell beer in their nation because you don't agree with some cultural practice could be misconstrued as neocolonialism or worse.
Re: Policing difficult to implement
impactnow
4/25/2012 12:18:44 PM
I agree that the company has some responsibility but if we look at country like Thailand and its bar scene there are many things that are acceptable in their nightclubs that we would find very unacceptable. I am sure that you can still get a drink from many main stream sprits and beer companies in these clubs and they advertise there on tent cards banners etc. It's a very murky area but its reality. If companies take a hard line and say they will not sell in a country that has such practices this is the only way to completely avoid these issues. I don't think that will happen, as the profits are rich and the shareholders would not approve.
Re: Dog fighting is illegal, human fighting is celerated?
Noreen Seebacher
4/25/2012 9:00:32 AM
Fair enough. But maybe it comes down to having clear and well stated corporate values, which can be stressed as essential to every employee and made an integral part of business with suppliers, contractors, etc.
For instance, consider Zappos, which notes on its website, "As we grow as a company, it has become more and more important to explicitly define the core values from which we develop our culture, our brand, and our business strategies. These are the ten core values that we live by:
Heineken lists three core values on its website:
- Respect for individuals, society and the environment
- Enjoyment: we bring enjoyment to life
- Passion for quality
Under enjoyment, it explains, "HEINEKEN makes life more enjoyable. We do this through brewing some of the world's greatest beers and then marketing them responsibly through innovative sponsorships, advertising and promotions to adult consumers around the world. Our sponsorship portfolio, which spans sports, music and the arts, includes many positive events (emphasis added) that contribute to the enjoyment of many. We also encourage this core value within the working life and atmosphere within the company."
Now the question is this: was this core value clearly communicated to employees? Because if it had been, then perhaps employees should have been more careful about what events they sponsored, as well as enforcing requirements for venues to remove advertising once the event was over.
Re: Dog fighting is illegal, human fighting is celerated?
Broadway
4/24/2012 8:38:37 PM
To be honest, I do prefer beer to dogs. But that's beside the point. The point is what can companies do to protect themselves from PR disasters that they had nothing to do in creating?
Re: Dog fighting is illegal, human fighting is celerated?
cat tail
4/24/2012 10:10:30 AM
IDK @broadway. But it seems sort of funny. I get the impression that you are a fairly liberal and compassionate person from some of your other posts. Do you just like beer more than dogs?
Re: Dog fighting is illegal, human fighting is celerated?
Broadway
4/23/2012 10:32:36 PM
Noreen, PR resources are scarce too. For every dogfighting episode that went viral how many remained buried on the web? They can't go after every incident they come across ... They almost have to wait for something to blow up before they devote resources to it.
Re: Dog fighting is illegal, human fighting is celerated?
Noreen Seebacher
4/22/2012 9:54:05 PM
I think the lesson is to address things proactively -- Heineken would have won if it had issued a statement about the dogfighting before the photo went viral. But you get the impression it knew what had happened, but decided to ignore it until it because a public issue.
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