The Puerto Rican rapper Dangerous Bunny is without doubt one of the largest stars of the track global. After turning into Spotify’s most-streamed artist for 3 years in a row – the primary and simplest artist ever to take action – he bought out all 49 dates of his 2024 U.S. excursion, netting US$211 million.
Previous this yr, after Dangerous Bunny co-hosted “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and introduced a 21-show residency in Puerto Rico, the lately reelected mayor of San Juan, Miguel Romero, quipped that the artist had completed a greater task of marketing Puerto Rico than the island’s legitimate vacation spot advertising group.
That company, Uncover Puerto Rico, used to be based in 2017 to marketplace the island to each vacationers and traders. Established all over the management of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, it used to be a part of a broader effort to professionalize Puerto Rico’s position branding and underscored the significance of tourism to the island’s financial system.
As a pupil of Puerto Rican politics and position branding – and a local Puerto Rican – I believe this example find out about raises fascinating public coverage questions: Who will get to logo Puerto Rico? Why does it topic if a spot has a logo anyway? And if political leaders are upset with an company whose sole goal is to marketplace the island, what comes subsequent?
It’s now not only a position – it’s a logo
Traditionally, place-branding campaigns were led via governments in quest of to draw tourism and funding. Some of the iconic examples used to be the “I Love New York” marketing campaign, introduced in 1977 as a collaboration between New York Town and personal companions. Equivalent public-private fashions turned into extra commonplace within the a long time that adopted.
A Works Development Management advert selling Puerto Rico, circa 1940.
Library of Congress
Puerto Rico has observed more than a few branding efforts through the years. Early boosterism efforts emerged all over the primary part of the twentieth century, and in 1970, the Puerto Rico Tourism Corporate used to be created to advertise the island as a
vacationer vacation spot. By means of the Nineteen Nineties, many Puerto Rican municipalities had begun adopting other position branding methods.
All through Puerto Rico’s deepening fiscal disaster within the 2010s, branding efforts remained a bipartisan precedence. However the two dominant political events – the pro-territory Partido Well-liked Democrático, and the pro-statehood Partido Nuevo Progresista – each and every rebranded the island each time a brand new management took administrative center, elevating issues about consistency. The final primary government-led initiative sooner than Uncover Puerto Rico used to be the “Isla Estrella” marketing campaign, which incorporated a sponsorship care for Spain’s Sevilla FC football group.
The ‘Discover Puerto Rico’ generation
In 2017, Uncover Puerto Rico took keep watch over over the island’s place-branding efforts. Then again, its efficiency has been polarizing, with critics pointing to vital blunders. For instance, an early advert in its “Live Boricua” marketing campaign sparked backlash for that includes a circle of relatives that didn’t appear to be maximum Puerto Ricans.
Past its advertising blunders, Uncover Puerto Rico has struggled to navigate Puerto Rico’s politically charged place-branding panorama. Actually, it’s been contested from the beginning, and stays so, as lately elected Gov. Jennifer González evaluates its long term. It stays unclear to what extent potency and financial construction will function the primary standards for comparing its luck, and to what extent birthday celebration politics will affect the decision-making procedure.
Only a day sooner than Mayor Romero made his statement about Dangerous Bunny, Uncover Puerto Rico’s CEO, Brad Dean, resigned, taking a identical function in St. Louis. Dean has argued that all over his tenure, Uncover Puerto Rico has pushed vital will increase in tourism and tourism spending. Whilst those self-reported figures counsel luck, they don’t deal with a important factor – the long-standing political controversy surrounding Puerto Rico’s branding.
Popular culture carries the burden
On the similar time the way forward for Uncover Puerto Rico stays unsure, the island has received exceptional global consideration due to common track.
Reggaetón, an city style that originated in Puerto Rico within the Nineteen Nineties, has collected an enormous world fan base, extending past Puerto Rico and Latin The united states to the remainder of the arena. In 2017, Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi’s video for the global hit “Despacito” became L. a. Perla, a working-class barrio in Previous San Juan, right into a magnet for vacationers from all over the place the arena.
“Despacito” brought about a surge of visits to L. a. Perla, because the French information company AFP famous.
Extra lately, in January 2025, Dangerous Bunny launched his newest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” which faucets into conventional Puerto Rican track genres comparable to bomba, plena and música jíbara that aren’t typically related to reggaetón. It charted at No. 1. Dangerous Bunny additionally introduced a Puerto Rico-exclusive live performance collection, with some dates reserved for locals and others open to fanatics international.
The luck of Puerto Rican reggaetón artists raises the most important query: Why have those natural cultural actions been so efficient – in all probability much more so than the legitimate expert-driven place-marketing company – in selling Puerto Rico as a logo?
I believe the solution almost certainly lies in authenticity. Not like government-led projects, reggaetón’s world enchantment stems from its cultural resonance and emotional reference to audiences international, irrespective of politics.
At this important juncture for the island’s tourism company, in all probability Uncover Puerto Rico must rebrand itself as “Discover the Birthplace of Reggaetón.”
