Bacardi and Cuba Today
Bacardi drinks are not found in Cuba today. The main brand of rum in Cuba is called Havana Club, a formerly private company nationalized by the government. Havana Club was not a Bacardi brand, though Bacardi later bought the brand from the original owners, the Arechabala family, who had it seized from them by the Revolutionary Government without compensation. The Cuban government in partnership with French company Pernod Ricard, sells its Havana Club internationally, except for the United States and its territories. Bacardi created Havana Club rum based on the original recipe from the Arechebala’s, and the product is crafted in Puerto Rico and currently sold in Florida. Drinks now made in the former Bacardi distillery are sold in Cuba under the name Caney.
Bacardi in the UK, despite having no business ties (in terms of production) to Cuba today, has decided to re-emphasize its Cuban heritage in recent years. This is mainly due to commercial reasons. Facing increased competition in the rum market from the now international brand Havana Club, the company concluded that it was important for sales to associate its rum with Cuba. TV advertisements with slogans of 'Welcome to the Latin Quarter' are but one example of this. In 1998, under the distinctive bat logo, the phrase "company founded in Santiago de Cuba in 1862" was added.
Bacardi has faced criticism and legal problems for supposedly attempting to falsely convince consumers they were purchasing rum made in Cuba rather than just marking its heritage. Bacardi adverts in Spain, since 1966, had described a popular combination of rum and Coke as "rum and coke". However, after 1998, it began to describe the drink as Cuba Libre – literally translated as "Free Cuba" which is the original name of the drink and how it's mostly called in Latin America. In this instance, Bacardi faced a legal ruling from the Spanish Association of Advertising Users which forced the company to stop the advert. They concluded that it could "mislead the viewer as to the true nature of the product" as the advert contained so many pieces of Caribbean imagery, one might conclude it came from Cuba.
Bacardi continues to fight a war in the courts attempting to legalize their own Havana Club trademark outside of the United States. Havana Club is owned by the Cuban government and has a business joint venture with the French company Pernod Ricard.
The Bacardi legacy lives on in Santiago and Havana through its grand buildings and its historic significance. The Bacardi Building in Old Havana is regarded as one of the finest art deco buildings in Latin America.
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