Why Mexicans Don't Drink Molson. Andrea Mandel-Campbell

      

       WHY MEXICANS DON’T DRINK MOLSON

       RESCUING CANADIAN BUSINESS FROM THE SUDS OF GLOBAL OBSCURITY

       WHY MEXICANS DON’T DRINK MOLSON

       ANDREA MANDEL-CAMPBELL

      Douglas & McIntyre

      Vancouver / Toronto

      Copyright © 2007 by Andrea Mandel-Campbell

      07 08 09 10 11 5 4 3 2 1

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

      Douglas & McIntyre Ltd.

      2323 Quebec Street, Suite 201

      Vancouver, British Columbia

      Canada V5T 4S7

      www.douglas-mcintyre.com

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Mandel-Campbell, Andrea, 1969– Why Mexicans don’t drink Molson : rescuing Canadian business from the suds of global obscurity / Andrea Mandel-Campbell.

      Includes bibliographical references.

      ISBN 978-1-55365-225-0

      1. Competition — Canada. 2. Competition, International. 3. Business enterprises — Canada.

      4. Corporate culture — Canada. 5. Globalization — Economic aspects — Canada.

      6. Export marketing — Canada. 7. Canada — Commerce. I. Title.

      HF3226.5.M35 2007 382.0971 C2007-900020-7

      Editing by John Eerkes-Medrano

       Copy editing by Ruth Wilson

       Jacket and text design by Ingrid Paulson

      Jacket photographs by Alex vs. Alex Photography

       Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens

       Printed on acid-free paper that is forest friendly (100% post-consumer

      recycled paper) and has been processed chlorine free.

      We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts,

       the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia through the

      Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing

      Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities.

       For Andrea, Isabella and Scuby

      “To those who urge upon us the policy of tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow; to those who tell us, wait, wait, wait; to those who advise us to pause, to consider, to reflect, to calculate and to inquire, our answer is: No, this is not a time for deliberation, this is a time for action. The flood-tide is upon us that leads on to fortune, if we let it pass it may never recur again . . .

      Heaven grant that it be not already too late; heaven grant that whilst we tarry and dispute, the trade of Canada is not deviated to other channels, and that an ever vigilant competitor does not take to himself the trade that properly belongs to those who acknowledge Canada as their native or their adopted land. Upon this question we feel that our position . . . corresponds to the beating of every Canadian heart.”

      SIR WILFRID LAURIER, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA, 1902

      “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

      PORKYPINE, QUOTED IN IMPOLLUTABLE POGO, 1970

       CONTENTS

Introduction

PART ONE WHY WE CAN’ T COMPETE ABROAD, OR WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR COJONES ?

1 Time to Wake Up

2 Steel Dinosaur

3 Tariffs and Trains: History’s Last Spike

       4 The Milk Mafia and Other Stories

       5 Why Mexicans Don’t Drink Molson

       6 Team Canada and Tequila: The Pitfalls of Government Trade Policy, Promotion and Finance

       PART TWO WHY ALL IS NOT LOST: HOW TO GET FROM BUFFALO TO BEIJING

       7 Dragon Slayers and Depanneur Dynasties

       8 Multicultural Meal Ticket, or Multiple Solitudes?

       9 The Mexican Lunch, or a Mug’s Game?

       10 A New Approach to Parenting: What Government Can and Should Do

       Sources

       Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

      DAVID HOOD WAS leaving the American Bar in Düsseldorf late one evening when he was stopped by two stern-looking policemen, armed with ak-47s, demanding his identification papers in clipped Germanic tones. Startled, the Canadian businessman squinted in confusion, fumbling in the semidarkness for his wallet as the stone-faced officers looked on in silence. But as soon as Hood pulled out his Canadian passport, the gun-toting police broke into broad grins, summoning up what appeared to be the only English words they knew, chiming in unison: “beer, hockey, Wayne Gretzky!”

      Beer. What could be more Canadian? With its sturdy, honeyed depths, conjuring up images of ice-cold lakes, lumberjacks and rough-hewn beauty, it is one of the few things that seem to distinguish us from the rest of the world. As tightly bound to our still-wobbly sense of national identity as hockey, beavers, Mounties and medicare, it’s the one symbol of iconic Canadiana we could arguably slap a label on and sell around the globe. And yet we don’t. It speaks volumes that Canadian beer can capture the imagination of two policemen in Germany, the original purveyor of the barley beverage and home of Oktoberfest. Especially when just about the only place you can get your hands on a “cold one” is in Canada — and who knows for how much longer.

      The Europeans may have invented the bitter ale, but nowhere are the conditions more ideal for brewing beer than in Canada. Consider its two key ingredients, water and barley: Canada is the largest repository of fresh water in the world and the second-largest producer of barley, its northern Prairie climes ideal for making high-quality malt.