An inclusive campaign for beer brand Cerveza Victoria by MediaCom Mexico has won the Campaign of the Year at this week’s Festival of Media LatAm Awards.

A total of 56 awards were handed out during the Festival of Media LatAm event in Miami. Mexico led the way as the leading country in the region with a total of 17 awards; Colombia was second with 11 awards and Argentina won eight.

In terms of agencies, MediaCom was out in front, winning 15 awards, including the three Grand Prix: MediaCom was awarded Agency Network of the Year, MediaCom Mexico won Agency of the Year and its work for Cerveza Victoria, Lo Chingón Está Aquí, beat competitors for Campaign of the Year.

This addressed the uncomfortable fact that while 80% of Mexicans are “Morenos” – the native people of the country – they have become marginalised, experience racial discrimination and rarely, if ever, feature in advertising.

The campaign started with mobile-phone footage of a Western-looking actor berating a director for expecting her to stand behind a Moreno in an advert.

After it was shared 1.5m times in just 19 hours, a second video was released showing the actors coming together and explaining “not all beauty is white – advertising made you believe that”.

Cerveza Victoria is now committed to casting Moreno talent in its advertising in order to foster a climate of inclusivity and has called on other brands to follow suit while also lobbying the Mexican Association of Advertising Agencies to push for industry-level quotas.

According to MediaCom, 14 million people have joined its movement and Cerveza Victoria has seen a 12% lift in sales.

“Bravo for taking on a social issue like this, feeling the brand’s responsibility to stand up for its heritage and values,” said Alejandro Betancourt, Latin America & Venezuela Brand Ops Leader, Procter & Gamble, and one of the judges.

Sourced from Festival of Media, MediaCom; additional content by WARC staff