The beer-loving population has been trying to investigate the Modelo Pride connection ever since Modelo Especial became the favorite beer of the United States.
Modelo Especial has been consistently ranking as the second best-selling beer brand and as the best selling imported beer brand in the United States for quite some time. However, in May 2023, Modelo Especial overtook Bud Light as the best-selling beer brand in the US, following a boycott of Bud Light by consumers.
Though experts were of the opinion that Modelo Especial would overtake Bud Light in the future, the sudden dethroning was precipitated by the consumer backlash over a social media video post by trans-artist and content creator Dylan Mulvaney. In the video, a customized can of Bud Light was showcased with Mulvaney’s image on it. The can was sent by Bud Light on completion of Mulvaney’s 365 days as a ‘woman’.
Scores of people took the post offensively and a boycott call was made through the conventional as well as social media leading to a slowdown in the sales of Bud Light. The sales of Bud Light nosedived further when some LGBTQ bars also took the brand off their shelves due to the failure of Bud Light to defend its stand.
Ever since, people have been curious to find out about Modelo’s stand on LGBTQ+ issues and whether Modelo supports Pride. Lets us try to find the answer to the question.
Does Modelo support Pride?
The answer is an emphatic ”yes”. However, before we give you the reasons for coming to the conclusion that Modelo does support LGBTQ+ Pride, let us first put things into context.
The Context
For undertaking a serious analysis, one must understand that corporate entities develop brands for selling their products and to help consumers identify and differentiate their products from those of their competitors.
In fact, a company may be selling the same core product under different brands, packaged and presented differently, to be sold to different target consumers. It is a marketing strategy known as Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP).
In the instant case, one must bear in mind that Modelo is a Mexican brand of beer which is owned in the United States by Constellation Brands, Inc. It is positioned as a brand with a Fighting Spirit and a brand that is proud of its Mexican Heritage. For reasons of suitability, or lack of it, you may not find profuse references to Modelo-Pride connection in Modelo’s brand communication.
However, the Modelo Pride or Modelo LGBTQ connection becomes quite clear when we delve into the position of its owner (in the US) toward the LGBTQ+ community.
So, who owns Modelo?
It is important to mention here that the Modelo brand is a part of Grupo Modelo, a major brewery headquartered in Mexico and owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, except in the United States, where it is owned by Constellation Brands, Inc. Therefore, Modelo is owned by Constellation Brands, Inc. only in the US and elsewhere it is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the company that also owns Bud Light.
6 Reasons why Modelo Pride Association is Real?
The support of the Mexican lager Modelo for LGBTQ+ is quite easily established, given the multi pronged programs of its owner in the direction of diversity, inclusion and equity. The company’s initiatives are not confined to extending equal benefits to its employees, which has almost become a norm for large corporations in the United States.
Genderisnothing.com conducted an analysis of literature available on various sources, including the website of Modelo’s US owner Constellation Brands, reports published by the company and other sources to ascertain whether it supports the LGBTQ+ community.
The primary source for relevant information was the company website which is quite descriptive and tells the reader a good deal about its core values, emphasizing equity, inclusion and diversity. In the next few sections, we list out reasons that establish the Modelo Pride connection.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Mission
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) page on the website of Constellation Brands, Inc. is prominently placed with the title “Responsibility” on the primary navigation menu of the website. Under the responsibility section the fourth item is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) which is stated to be a strategic business priority for the company.
The company mentions in its DEI mission about fostering an inclusive culture within the organization, characterized by diversity of background and thought and accepting its employees as their “authentic self”.
Don’t you think that “authentic self ” is a curious description of how company encourages its employees to be, unless the company is encouraging them to present as their “real self” in terms of their gender identity without the fear of getting discriminated against. It means that the company it confident and committed to provide a safe environment to people of different gender identities and sexual orientations to express themselves naturally.
The above gets position gets corroborated if you read a blog post on the company’s website authored by Robert Henson, the EVP and President of Wine and Spirits Division at Constellation Brands. In this post, Henson reminisces about how he could not have put his best at work if he had not brought his “whole self” to workplace daily.
He concedes that it is not an experience unique to him as an openly gay person, but one that transcends across race, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc. As per Henson, equality means the freedom for you to show up. The blog post on the company website from a senior executive, who is openly gay, would inspire a lot of confident in those individuals from the LGBTQ+ community who are looking for a workplace that lets them be their real self.
Supplier Diversity Program
Constellation Brands runs a Supplier Diversity Program which essentially on-boards diverse small suppliers from disadvantaged communities. These include certain women-owned enterprises, minority-owned enterprises, veteran-owned enterprises and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender Business Enterprises (LGBTBE).
Increasing business opportunities for diverse suppliers is a commitment of the Supplier Diversity Program at Constellation Brands, the owner of Modelo in the US. The company has a well-established and organized process for identification of diverse, small suppliers as a part of its overall sourcing strategy.
However, it is refreshing to see a streak of candor in the mission statement of the supplier diversity program of the company which says that forging such partnerships is a potent business strategy and that the company wishes to use it to gain competitive advantage over its competitors.
Nonetheless, the fact that the supplier diversity program includes LGBT business enterprises, by itself, is reasonable evidence of the support to LGBTQ+ being real.
Perfect score on Corporate Equality Index (CEI)
Modelo’s owner in the United States, Constellation Brands, Inc. has achieved a cent per cent score on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the past several years. CEI is published annually by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and serves as a national benchmark for corporate policy, practices and benefits for LGBTQ employees.
The index assesses corporate entities on four criteria, including Workforce Protections, Inclusive Benefits, Supporting an Inclusive Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility and Responsible Citizenship.
The company has been proudly sharing its top ranking through its twitter account, which is an indication that it is not reticent to let the public at large know its efforts to make the organization one of the best places to work for the LGBTQ+ community.
The most important criteria in the index is – “Supporting an Inclusive Culture and CSR” – with a weightage of 40 percent. It appears from the perfect score obtained by the company in the CEI Index that Modelo’s owner has the following mechanisms in place:-
- Training and education for LGBTQ+
- Employee groups working as diversity councils
- Multiple LGBTQ outreach and engagement efforts
- LGBTQ as a part of its CSE commitments
Forward Guidance on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity
If you study the website of Constellation Brands, Modelo’s US parent, one gets ample forward guidance as to its mission of achieving diversity, equity and inclusion not just within the organization but also in the industry and communities.
The company seems to be well aware of its responsibility as a global business leader to commit itself to bringing about positive change and equity in society.
The company believes strongly in learning about its diverse customer base by encouraging employees to join Business Resource Groups (BRGs) created to bring the employees together based on common interests and identities.
As per the company’s Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) impact report 2022, around 62 percent of its employees in the US are members of such BRGs. One such BRG is “Stellar Pride” dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community.
The ESG impact report 2022, informs that the mission of Stellar Pride BRG is to induce inclusive policies, advocacy for LGBTQ+ employees and engaging with communities internally as well as externally.
Support to Organization working for LGBTQ+ and Pride Events
Modelo’s US parent has partnered with LGBTQIA+ community-based sports organization, Stonewall Sports that does fund-raising for local NPOs through sporting events.
It is understood that the company has sponsored Pride events, such as the LA Pride Festival, San Francisco Pride Parade and the Creating Change conference organized by the National LGBTQ Task Force in the past, however sufficient material could not be found through secondary research to support the same.
Social Media Communication from Constellation Brands and Modelo on Pride
Modelo USA has expressed its support for Pride on Twitter in sync with its core positioning punchline of being a ‘brand with fighting spirit’. One such tweet was posted in Pride Month 2022 expressing its good wishes and friendliness to the champions who fight for love. The tweet used the hashtag #PrideMonth and two emojis of the rainbow flag and the transgender flag. The use of the transgender flag alongside the rainbow flag insinuates that it is probable that Modelo supports transgender rights as well
You may be interested in our article on 5 Brands that Support LGBTQ+ Community Beyond Pride Month.
We noticed that Modelo USA does not tweet prolifically which indicates that Twitter is not the preferred medium of communication for the brand.
The owner of Modelo USA tweets more frequently about its LGBTQ-centric initiatives and programs.
Genderisnothing.com is of the opinion that activism on Twitter is easy, but what really counts is how committed the brand and its owner is about positively influencing LGBTQ+ causes.
The array of programs for LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality run by the owner of Modelo in the US and the tweet above from Modelo USA sum up the position of Modelo on Pride and the LGBTQ+ cause succinctly.
Source: Modelo USA Twitter Account
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