The Problem Is Not the Packaging / Fernando Damaso

Fernando Damaso, 23 March 2015 — Many years ago when I worked at an advertising agency named Marketing, Research and Public Relations, Inc., its head — Enrique Cuzco — would often say, “A bad product won’t sell no matter how good the advertising is.”

In an effort to get young people to actively participate in the current electoral process, the National Electoral Commission recently decided to give responsibilty for the entire public relations campaign to a group of young journalists, designers and artists, figuring they can speak a common generational language.

Cuzco’s words immediately came to mind.

If anyone thinks that by designing more colorful and attractive “packaging” he will better be able to sell a low-quality “product” such as the Cuban electoral process, he is wasting time and resources.

This can only be achieved when the process is changed, when it stops being a farce and becomes something serious, when citizens can nominate candidates they really think are better and not someone supported by the sole poltical party, and when they can vote directly for those who will occupy the most important government positions, including the presidency.

I hope the new election law now being written includes these provisions. The problem is not with the packaging; it is with the product inside.