Miller responds to beer boycott

"We are on the same team" is Miller Brewing Co.'s response to a threatened boycott of their products in Chicago as a result of Miller's contributions to the political campaign of Sen. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.). The senator is behind a bill that calls for strengthening U.S. anti-immigration laws and construction a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In an article in Hoy's Chicago version, the company's spokesman said they donated $2,000 to the senator in 2004 since he had supported company business causes, and not for social issues. He also added that they have provided more than $2 million over three years to Hispanic organizations throughout the country, and they have developed programs for scholarships and naturalization.

The beer company also put out "an unusual" one-page ad in Thursday's edition of Hoy, according to an article in Marketing y Medios .

Not sure what Marketing y Medios means by "unusual" since I haven't seen the ad. But, there is nothing "unusual" about companies buying full page ads to state their cases.

I was actually recently interviewed by a local TV station to comment on a company in the state whose union workers are striking about the effectiveness of these ads (they have placed them in the area papers) to communicate their points. What I said is that they are an effective way to ensure your messages are communicated to an intended audience without a filter (i.e. the news editors) or conflicting sentiments (i.e. if they also interviewed a union person in the same article).

However, they are not effective if this is the only means of communication. A broader public relations and media relations campaign is needed. And, much of that must be done prior to the strike (or boycott in Miller's case). For examples, make sure you establish positive ties and trust with the media so there is a good relationship and you can ensure your story gets told. That means, answering their queries in a timely manner whether the news is good or bad. All too often companies are happy to send out all their positive news for media coverage, but stonewall when they call for something that is not too positive. Don't put out your bad news at 5:00 on a Friday in hopes it doesn't get covered or try other "tricks" to do damage control. This is very transparent to the media. They will remember that next time you're looking for ink on a positive story ... or when the mierda hits the fan.

It appears Miller has done that as the stories I've seen speak to the work the company has done to support the Hispanic community. It is also good that they have a track record, $2 million is not shabby and certainly more than many companies contribute.

They now need to continue to be active and continue to appear responsive to the concerns of the organizations threatening to boycott. The message they have to get out is to weigh the value of a $2,000 contribution to the general campaign of someone who does things out of Miller's control against the $2 million they have contributed to support Hispanic causes.