A question to you, dear readers:
How do you feel about your tax dollars going toward financing California wine country junkets for foreign wine writers?
According to an article today in the Sac Bee, the Wine Institute is organizing trips and funneling public cash to do just that. From the article:
These traveling crews included a reporter, a photographer, a press agent and a coordinator. Total estimated cost for airfare, accommodations, meals, rental cars and fees: $40,000.
Taxpayers and the wine industry pick up the tab. The resulting stories are billed as marketing gold. An eight-page article in the October 2004 issue of GQ Japan, for instance, was considered the equivalent of a $160,000 ad.
Articles further surpass ads, wine industry officials believe, because consumers routinely discount advertising. The articles are presented as “third party” information from writers conveying “what they have seen and how they feel,” Rollo said, as opposed to explicit ad salesmanship.
“These writers are trusted to be objective, and the frequency of their coverage about California will influence consumer purchase decisions,” the Wine Institute said in its 2004-2005 progress report on Canada.
So, are you willing to have your tax dollars go toward marketing for large commercial wineries so that they can export more of their product overseas?
What the Wine Institute is doing is helping to create more demand in these countries, which is good for the industry, but shouldn’t the wine industry be paying its own way? Or, as quasi-farmers, are we going to get a pass on this?
Let me know in the comments.
Hi Josh,
This is a complicated issue. Many other countries give government subsidies to their wine industries (and even more to other types of agriculture). From what I understand, the amount going to U.S. wine industry promotion is comparatively small. Without this sort of promotion, California wine wouldn’t be able to compete with subsidized countries, like those in Europe. (I don’t know if that makes it “right,” but that’s the situation. I’d be interested to know just how much taxpayers’ money goes toward CA wine marketing.
Having said that, our wine industry kicks in very little (at least, compared with countries like Australia) toward collective marketing and scientific research. (We’re running a big story in December’s Wines & Vines about the research funding crisis in the U.S. wine industry, by the way.)
As a wine magazine editor, I get invited to lots of junkets in foreign lands. Sometimes they are funded by local tourism boards or governments, but more often they’re funded by an importer that wants to generate publicity for its wineries.
This is done all the time… Who else is going to pay the writer? Most writers are free lance, with the operative word being “free.”
People think wine writers are rich… Well, they’re not…. For instance, when you blog, are those billable hours for you?
I just went drove four hours south to write a story, had travel expenses, food, lodging et al. I got paid $250 for a 1,000 word story…
Think about it. That’s 24 hours non-paid other wise hours to get this job done… Three days plus the writing for $250. Writing took three hours, which totals 27 hours.I’ll do the math: $250 divided by 27 hours = $9.26 an hours, when I’m paid $100 for strict copy writing for those who want my services.
I think this may shed more light on the situation.
You can see, as a writer, I can always use a good editor; otherwise, I get the job done…