Unpacking the Harmful Marketing Tactics of Diageo’s Campaign in Uganda
Posted on September 06, 2024 in Diageo, Promotion, UgandaUganda Breweries Limited (UBL), owned by Diageo, recently launched its “Laga Swagga” campaign, offering over 1 billion shillings in cash prizes and aiming predominantly at young adult consumers of their alcoholic products. This strategy, which utilizes flashy prizes and extensive media coverage, epitomizes a concerning trend in alcohol marketing that not only promotes increased consumption but specifically targets young and impressionable demographics.
By encouraging consumers to purchase more alcohol to increase their chances of winning substantial monetary rewards, UBL effectively incentivizes higher alcohol consumption. The campaign’s appealing promise of instant financial gain, prominently displayed through engaging televised draws, boosts sales while glamorizing alcohol use. Such tactics exploit the socio-economic aspirations of many consumers, increasing the risk of alcohol harm among vulnerable groups.
Furthermore, the campaign’s name “Laga Swagga,” which translates to “show off your style,” ties alcohol consumption with style and glamour, influencing young adults to perceive alcohol use as a gateway to a desirable lifestyle and social status. Additionally, UBL’s strategy of embedding these promotions in popular culture, including music and entertainment events, broadens the normalization of alcohol in everyday settings, further entrenching these products in the social fabric of the community.
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.