Bacardi Essay, Research Paper

The Story of Bacardi

Don Facundo Bacardi Masso was born in Sitges, Spain in October of 1814. Fifteen years later he and his family moved to Cuba to live in the port city of Santiago. This wine merchant had a thing for rum; most people thought rum could only be for pirates because of its strong taste. He experimented a lot with the process of making rum from the raw materials and fermentation to the distillation. He then added the most important step, mellowing the rum through charcoal filtration to remove impurities. This amazing discovery led to the product he was looking for. He wanted a place where he could produce his rum for more than just his friends. So he purchased a small distillery. When he walked through his first factory he discovered that a large number of bats were living in the rafters. To the Cuban people bats are a sign of good fortune therefore he allowed them to stay and the bat became the logo for Bacardi rum, which is still used today.

The bat logo meant a lot to Don Facundo?s wife, Doria Amalia. She knew that the bat meant good health, good fortune, and family unity. She also believed that since there was a very high rate of illiteracy in the 19th century, a product needed a memorable logo or a trademark for the people to recognize. After this the news of the wonderful new rum spread through out Cuba. Locals believed that the bat did indeed bring good fortune to Bacardi. In the present day the Bacardi bat is seen in more than 170 countries around the world and was recognized as one of the world?s top ten international brand names.

Besides the bat, another symbol is seen on every bottle of Bacardi. This emblem is the Spanish coat of arms. This honor was given to Don Facundo by Queen Maria Cristina, after his alcohol was awarded a Gold medal at the Barcelona Exposition. Four years later, court physicians used Bacardi to cure the Queens son, Alfonso XIII of the grippe. The royal physician later wrote to the Bacardi family and thanked them for ??making a product that had saved the life of his Majesty?. The smooth and mellow rum was the first of its kind and earned the Company the title of ?Los Maestros del Ron? or ?The Masters of Rum?.

There are many advertisements done by Bacardi, but most of them are in different countries, mostly in Central America and the Caribbean Islands. The ideas behind these commercials come from a man by the name of Wayne Isham. He is also known to direct music videos. A company called Magic Films produced the commercials.

The most famous of the Bacardi ads are those from the Cuban series, known as ?Que suerte tiene el Cubano? or ?How lucky are the Cubans?. To Cubans, Bacardi gives them a sense of national pride. Bacardi is the choice alcohol in Cuba, mostly because of the pride Cubans have for it being a Cuban made product.

My pick for this presentation is a Bacardi ad. It shows the middle part of a woman?s body, from the neck to her thighs. The woman has a perfect figure. I really like the attention getter that they use for their product. The slogan ?Banker By Day, Bacardi By Night? is also shown in the ad. This to me says you can have a wonderful and successful job and still go out at night and have all the fun you want. The ad also states the year in which the company was stated which is 1862. This shows the consumer that the product is a quality one. If a company can stay around for that long and be consistently successful then they are truly worthy of their title ?Masters of Rum?. I think a lot of people take that into consideration when buying a product. I?m not sure how much they care about alcohol, but I know that being in business for that long does deserve some credit. This should indeed develop some kind of trust.

Once again the motto sex sells is put into play. The very full figured woman is a true example of this. She presents the illusion that if you drink the product you will look like that or if you?re a man it also presents the illusion that if you buy a girl this product they could possibly look like her. Also, in a way men might also fantasize about the woman and thus for the great mental picture want to buy the product. The bat symbol doesn?t really mean much to us Americans, but to the Cubans it is a sign of good fortune. That means a lot to that culture. As we well know every product has a logo that it is known by and the bat is Bacardi?s.

What I really like about this advertisement is that it can be directed towards so many types of people. First we have the workingwoman, in her upper 20?s and 30?s. By saying banker by day this means that the older person can relate to this product. The same goes for the workingman. A banker could also be a man in that field, or in any field for that matter. They would also enjoy this product. Next we have to look at the younger woman, in her early 20?s or late teens, because lets face it they all drink. The belly button ring shows that even a young sexy girl would look great holding this drink in her hand. The clothing also shows that it is directed towards the younger crowd. And finally we have the young man. They just want to be with a woman that looks like that so they don?t really care about the product, they just like the girl, but with the girl, they can?t help but notice the product, which is a very clever advertising technique.

I feel that this advertisement was a very good one and definitely caught my attention. I also think that the ad was very clever when it came to the attention getting step. The product is presented to all and that is very effective. Most ads just direct itself to one gender, but this one is directed to both. Overall I feel that this company knows what it is doing when it comes to advertising.