Cultural Identity for Sale – How Guinness Exploits African Narratives

Guinness has given its Guinness Smooth brand a flashy new makeover in Africa, touting “bold, vibrant, and dynamic” packaging. But this isn’t just about design—it’s a calculated move to deepen Guinness’s hold on the African market by exploiting cultural identity to push alcohol consumption.

Big Alcohol has long used cultural narratives to market and mask the realities of its products. Guinness, owned by Diageo, is no exception. For years, its marketing campaigns in Africa have carefully woven alcohol into expressions of identity, success, and masculinity. The “Made of Black” campaign, for example, was framed as a celebration of African creativity and resilience, but in reality, it was about selling more alcohol. Now, with Guinness Smooth’s rebrand, the company is continuing this pattern—wrapping its product in a narrative of pride and vibrancy to distract from the health and social harms of alcohol use.

This strategy isn’t unique to Guinness. Global alcohol corporations have a history of co-opting local cultures to drive sales while ignoring the long-term damage their products cause. By linking alcohol to cultural pride they make it harder to prevent and decrease alcohol harm.

Africa is a key growth market for Guinness, and the company knows that success depends on shaping its message to resonate with local consumers. But no amount of rebranding or cultural storytelling can change the fact that alcohol remains a major driver of disease, violence, and economic hardship.

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.

Source:
https://www.pulse.ug/articles/lifestyle/guinness-smooth-unveils-new-look-2025030311295762873

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