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According to Mimi Sheller, writing in Consuming the Caribbean, the popular notion of the Caribbean has long been tied to consumption, with the consumables mainly being edible plants like sugarcane, bananas and tropical fruits; stimulants such as coffee, tobacco and rum; cultural products like reggae and calypso music; and entire natures and landscapes viewed as tropical paradise. Writes Sheller, “The ties that bind the Caribbean to other places are premised on everyday practices of consumption that occur through economies of movement, touch, and taste… ”
Sheller, who is currently a visiting professor at Swarthmore College, elaborated on this theme for us by email: “Contemporary forms of [Caribbean] branding build on colonial histories of place-making and visual representation, including the ubiquitous icon of the easy-going palm-fringed beach, alongside the timeless colonial plantation landscape, and the smiling, friendly local—an image which often comes with racist underpinnings. While many groups within the Caribbean capitalize on such images, including the Caribbean Tourism Organization and various hotel chains, they tend to reinforce an image of the region as outside of modernity—the usual fantasy of paradise islands as escapes from reality.”
Many people, however, think it is reprehensible that any nation or region would exploit the stereotyping of its own population for tourists dollars, but the practice is both common and—considering its prevalence—effective.
Rum as Symbol of Caribbean
Despite their proximity, the islands in the Caribbean largely have unique histories. The Spanish, French, English and Dutch each claimed islands there. But even though local histories vary, nearly all of the islands have produced rum from molasses, a by-product of sugarcane. In fact, rum is probably the only common denominator besides sunshine in this multicultural region. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that for many tourists, rum evokes the strongest associations of the Caribbean, of the tropics, and of the sea.
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Ian Williams, the author of Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776, told us recently, “Rum has a much more colorful history than most drinks, and it can help project a gravitas and quality that is important, especially with the aged premium brands.” Continuing, Williams added, “A consistent theme [in branding] is the naval and piratical tradition, whether it is Admiral Rodney, English Harbour, Captain Morgan, or Pyrat.”
According to Professor Frederick Smith of the College of William and Mary, “Caribbean rum makers play on the fantasies on North American consumers by placing pirates, palm trees, sailing ships, and sandy beaches on their rum bottle labels, and by promoting such symbolism on their websites. They even sponsor Caribbean water-sport competitions and volleyball tournaments. Other brands, such as Mount Gay, embrace nationalistic symbols, such as flags or the outline of the particular island on their labels.”
War and Rum Mix It Up
At the end of World War II, the US was importing more Caribbean rum than any other category of imported spirits, including whiskey. During the war, the US had negotiated with Britain for the use of a string of bases in the West Indies, with the largest of these in Trinidad. There 50,000 American sailors, soldiers and airmen marshaled in advance of the North African landings. On Trinidad, they were introduced to good local rum—far superior to what they were used to in the States.
According to legend, an unidentified American serviceman in Trinidad hit upon the idea of mixing local rum with Coca-Cola. The concoction got a boost when the Andrews Sisters, a popular US singing group in 1945, rerecorded the popular calypso song “Rum and Coca-Cola,” originally composed by Lord Invader in the traditional "picong" style, featuring clever verses that humorously mock and sometimes insult the subject matter. The song describes the interplay of Caribbean and American cultures in the context of the heavy US military presence on Trinidad during the war, and suggests how American money and soldiers brought rampant prostitution and immoral behavior to the island. Nevertheless, according to Professor Smith in Caribbean Rum: A Social and Economic History (2006), the song is one of the best celebrations of rum’s place as an expression of the Caribbean. The precise intent of the lyrics remains a topic of debate even today.
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But Smith also points out that rum is also much about how Caribbean islanders see themselves as well. Rum, he says in his book, has been providing an escape valve from the troubles of everyday life for locals in the Caribbean since the seventeenth century. As a result, he says, the drink has been elevated to the level of a cultural symbol—one that has helped to define what it means to be Caribbean, which is to say, an integrated brand.
Distilling the Future of Rum
 Facing increased competition with nations that subsidize their sugar production, some Caribbean islands have given up raising sugarcane. Investments in golf courses and tourism seem better hedges in the face of increasing globalization. Meanwhile non-Caribbean rums are now being produced in such far off locales as South Africa, Mauritius, and Australia.
Even so, this probably does not spell doom for Caribbean rum any time soon. Says Professor Smith, “In Barbados, the sugar industry has declined greatly in recent years. [But] in 2004, revenues from rum exports actually surpassed those of sugar for the first time in Barbadian history. Tourism clearly is the key economic focus of Barbados, though diversification has occurred in other sectors of the economy.”
The European Commission’s Stefan Szepesi has also looked at economic trends associated with globalization in the Caribbean. He told us, “Even if the theoretical case where the sugarcane sector would entirely disappear—which it will probably not quality rum could still be produced by importing molasses from more competitive sugar producers outside the region. In fact, that might make rum even more competitive because prices for those inputs will be lower.”
According to Ian Williams, synergy is key to the rum experience. “There is the overall theme of the Caribbean, its islands, waters and its people, [and] its good looking women. That helps build brands based on tourism… Exposing visitors to high quality and memorably-branded products helps them to take happy memories back with them and recreate them in the chill of their Northern homes.” [21-Apr-2008]
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Randall Frost is a freelance writer based in Pleasanton, California. He is the author of The Globalization of Trade. His work has appeared in Worth, The New England Financial Journal, CBSHealthWatch, and a variety of educational publications.
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The song "Rum and Coca Cola" may be heard on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CUw1Km35Gg
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