Banned Beer Commercial Generates Big Controversy in Colombia

As rarely happens , advertising is now the talk of the media the Colombia.

This is because some people found a commercial of the campaign  "friends day" very offensive.

The commercial invited to give away beer to celebrate this day and a friend is disappointed to receive what he thought it was a book.

Watch the Commercial at the end

When the commercial was aired, book dealers , publishers and individuals sent letters to Bavaria asking to withdraw the commercial.

Although the brand withdrew it the air, it continued to be on YouTube until yesterday , when the Arcadia Magazine published an article called  Books or Beer ?  In reference to the ad which they called " a disconcerting commercial ."

The magazine states that the commercial shows a more than obvious disregards toward books , and gathered the reactions from writers like David Roa:

 "Colombians who work  in the arts field feel offended and bewildered by a commercial that does not respect the value of reading , the value of friendship that is built with a book is  infinitely higher and more profound than a simple beer.

We should work for ethical values that correspond to the reality and its social responsibility , it is desirable to build positive values.

 That commercial of your brand Poker should be withdrawn for being inconsistent and disrespectful to the value of friendship , which can not be built denying one of the most important values of universal culture: a book! To make things right , you need to read. "

In addition , the magazine published the reaction of the Colombian Book Chamber , headed by its president, Enrique Gonzalez . "It makes me sad to know that the values of the society that we want to instill in our young people are being diminished. Reading a book should be an important value in society . I'm not against the joy that produces beer, or that the boys drink it, but something so valuable as the book should not be diminished that way. "

Faced with the controversy, Fernando Jaramillo, Bavaria’s VP of corporate affairs, said this morning that the brand Blu Radio apologizes to all the people who have felt offended by this commercial.

"We decided to remove the commercial 15 days ago, and took it off of YouTube as well. Many people have retweeted the commercial and have made many comments. ( ... ) We also want to say that we have been supporting culture, sports and art in this country for many years. And if this is taken out of context may generate a reference that is wrong. "

Jaramillo recognized the brand made a mistake. “The commercial was reviewed and that detail was overlooked by the committee”. He recognized in the country people should read more and announced that the brand will support the Book Fair to encourage reading at home in Colombia . "There’s nothing like getting home , read a good book and open a beer ."

So far, the advertising agency , DDB, hasn’t made statements in the media.

Watch the commercial here:

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