This poster, based on a photograph of three Black men and one Black woman in evening dress, celebrating with cocktails in hand before a glittering nighttime cityscape, is clearly directed at African American viewers. It reflects the efforts of alcohol companies like Bacardi to target Black consumers during the 1980s and ’90s by exploiting both the economic deprivation associated with African American communities and their high aspirations for upward mobility. Research has shown that advertisements for alcohol are still located disproportionately in African American neighborhoods and have a significant impact on alcohol consumption. Community activists have protested what they see as a form of institutional racism.
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