Chicas Modernas and Chinas Poblanas: International and National Influences in the Mexican Beer Industry and its Advertisements, 1910–1940

Abstract

The Mexican beer industry in general, and advertising in particular, contained both international and national influences. The industry transitioned from significant inputs of capital, technology, and expertise by foreigners during the Porfiriato (1876-1911) to locals carrying out these functions during the Revolution (1910-1940). Advertising in the latter period had Western inspirations, as seen in descriptions of Germanic heritage and images of the Modern Girl. It also had domestic ones, such as native historical figures, contemporary rural types, and Spanish colonial architecture. Some ads even mixed iconography from abroad with that from home. The trajectory of the beer industry as well as its marketing fit in with the political, economic, and social hallmarks of these key periods in Mexican history.