Community submission:
“In Medellín there is a festival called the Flower Fair sponsored by the liquor factory of Antioquia that floods the city with advertising such as the attached one that positions occasions to use alcohol in excess, this company has a history of nefarious practices to position its products.”
The image provided in the submission shows a large billboard for Aguardiente Antioqueño, owned by the government-run Fábrica de Licores de Antioquia (FLA), with the slogan: “En la feria, poncho, en el carriel, guaro” – essentially tying alcohol to the traditional dress and cultural identity of the event. By linking the Flower Fair – a major cultural celebration in Medellín – directly to alcohol use, FLA reinforces harmful social norms that normalise and encourage alcohol use during public festivities.
This practice is a clear example of the alcohol industry exploiting cultural heritage for commercial gain. It uses nostalgia and local pride to mask the health risks of its products, particularly in a country where alcohol harm is a major public health challenge. The reference to carrying guaro (a local slang term for aguardiente) in the carriel – a traditional Colombian leather satchel – is a coded but obvious push to always have alcohol on hand during the celebrations.
Promotion, or any marketing strategies, is Big Alcohol’s activity to drive alcohol availability and acceptability, to perpetuate the alcohol norm, and to place alcohol at the center of people’s thoughts and preferences, communities’ practices, and societies’ customs. The focus of this Dubious Five strategy is the people and their beliefs about alcohol products, the public and their attitudes about and behavior around alcohol products, and the consumers and how much, how often they buy and consume alcohol brands.
This case was brought to Big Alcohol Exposed by a concerned member of the community, underscoring the importance of community awareness in identifying industry misconduct. If you witness irresponsible or misleading marketing practices by the alcohol industry, you too can report them to Big Alcohol Exposed to help call attention to unethical tactics and protect public health.