Campaign Trail is our analysis of some of the best new creative efforts from the marketing world. View past columns in the archives here.

In the last few years, major brands have worked to avoid culture-war minefields by largely staying out of anything that could be deemed political in a United States that has grown increasingly polarized. One possible way around the rule is leaning into the reality of current events and how they're impacting consumers and businesses south of the border.

Mexican beer brand Tecate last month launched “Welcome Back, Paisano,” a campaign that tackles the very real struggle facing repatriated Mexicans while using a sharp, satirical tone. In a hero spot, the campaign illustrates several scenarios where U.S. consumers and workers are feeling the absence of Mexican citizens who have been deported by the U.S. government — numbering about 170,000 during the first year of President Trump's second term. “Welcome Back, Paisano” is running in Mexico across digital media and social networks, with strategic out-of-home and digital OOH placements.

The spot shows what happens at a handful of U.S. jobs sites, including at a restaurant, a construction site, a farm and a homeowner’s lawn and garden, that are stereotypically filled by Mexican immigrants. While restaurant managers and a construction foreman in the U.S. bemoan the lack of Mexican workers, repatriated Mexicans joke about their reputation in the U.S., with one person noting, “I'm an artist, an artist of the work. You're missing out, gringos.”

The campaign is in support of a new partnership between parent company Heineken México and Tiendas Six, the chain of convenience stores in Mexico owned by Tecate, that offers an employment and entrepreneurship project for repatriated Mexicans. Tecate has committed to employing 130 repatriated Mexicans over the next 24 months, a model it hopes to scale over time.

“‘Welcome Back, Paisano’ is an initiative that reflects the character and courage of Tecate: being present when most needed and supporting Mexicans with concrete actions,” said Marta García, vice president of marketing at Heineken México, in a statement. “We aim to generate real impact in communities, strengthen the local economy, and create opportunities that allow the world’s strongest workforce to build a new beginning.”

From purpose to action

Developed by LePub Mexico City, the campaign builds on a purpose-driven rebrand Tecate unveiled at the beginning of the decade. A digital platform shares information about the employment program, which was developed in collaboration with nonprofit organization FUNDES.

“Being an actual Mexican beer born in the town of Tecate, right next to the border, [inspired] us and the whole brand to actually take a deep dive into what matters in the Mexican culture,” said Aldo Ramirez, a chief creative officer at LePub Mexico City. “Especially in this moment in this time, in this cultural context… The campaign means that we’re actually building a brand that is crossing the line between brand purpose and brand action.”

The “Welcome Back, Paisano” spot is notable for how it characterizes the Americans who must grapple with workplaces without Mexicans, including a frazzled gardener and a restaurant manager who cries out, “Damn, I miss the Mexicans.” The humor and tone of the campaign is the essence of Tecate, according to Ricardo Avilés, a chief creative officer at LePub Mexico City, and a necessary entry point into an ad about a purpose-driven program.

“It’s trying to be as Mexican as possible with Tecate. It is difficult for us to take it seriously, because, in the DNA of the brand and in the DNA of the Mexican culture is laughing at almost everything,” Ramirez said. “The right way of communicating something this problematic, the best Mexican way possible, is to actually make it humorous, to actually crack a laugh while you're making it and trying to crack a laugh in the people that are watching it.”

That humor also extends to other elements of the campaign, including billboards near the U.S.-Mexico border emblazoned with the tagline, “God bless America for sending back the best workforce.” The spot, OOH and other elements come together to tell an important story, for the brand and its homeland.

“This is not just only a seasonal thing,” Ramirez said. “This is something that the brand has a commitment for two years to keep opening stores, and possibly will go as long as the immigration policy in the States continues.”