THE CUBA REVIEW 



25 



CUBAN COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



TRADE OPPORTUNITY IN CUBA 



A1 a Lund n giveu bj the American 



Manufacturers' Exporl Association ;ii the 

 Hotel McAlpin, New fork, June 18th, Ar 

 thur Liebes, formerly of the staff of /./ 

 Vacion, Havana, who has jusl returned 

 from Cuba, presented n moving picture 

 film entitled "A Commercial Travelogue 

 of Cuba," in which a message from Presi- 

 denl Menocal of Cuba addressed to the 

 manufacturers of the United States was 

 reproduced. It told of the opportunities 

 afforded by Cuba to American merchants 

 and extended an invitation to merchants 

 to visrl tlic island republic. 



The message read : "It affords me 

 genuine pleasure to accepl this oppor- 

 tunity to tell the merchants of the United 

 States of the wonderful opportunities 

 Cuba affords. First, to invest their capi- 

 tal; second, to sell their wares, and third. 

 but not least, of the desire of the Cuban 

 people to do an ever increasing business 

 with our good friend the United States 

 and further cement the friendly relations 

 already existing between the two repub- 

 lics. 



"Cuba, though occupying a small space 

 geographically, and having less than 

 3,000,000 people, has shown itself capable 

 of making tremendous purchases in the 

 United States. We are now probably one 

 of the host customers of your country, hut 

 there is still room for improvement. May 

 I append, in conclusion, a hearty and sin- 

 cere invitation to visit our prosperous re- 

 public, find the promise that you will re- 

 ceive at the hands of the Cuban people a 

 hearty welcome?'' 



The ] act n res were taken with the per- 

 mission of the Cuban Government, which 

 was represented at the luncheon by Dr. 

 L. Dolz, Cuban Consul General. 



CHEESE 

 The exportation of cheese to Cuba in 

 1017 amounted to 1,540,000 pounds, and 

 there was an increase for the calendar 

 year of 1918 to 3,121,000 pounds. 



ADVERTISING IN CUBA 



"No other country in Latin America pre- 

 sents such favorable conditions as does 

 Cuba as an experimental field for the 



A rican advertiser," says a report on 



"Advertising Methods in Cuba," issued by 

 the Bureau of Foreign ami Domestic Com- 

 merce, Departmenl of Commerce. "Just 

 as in the United States many advertisers 

 cautiously tesl their plans by States or 

 sections, so may the American advertiser 

 use Cuba as a 'trying-out' ground for all 

 Latin America." 



"If discouraging results attend the ad- 

 vertiser's first attempts," continues Trade 

 Commissioner J. \Y. Sanger, author of 

 the report, "if his instructions are no 

 carried out to the letter, and if irritating 

 and apparently needless misunderstand- 

 ings arise and delays occur, he will have 

 to remind himself frequently that neither 

 Cuba nor any other Latin-American coun- 

 try is adjusted to what may he called 1 he 

 •American way' of doing things. Neither 

 is there any likelihood that American 

 ways and business methods can ever he 

 transplanted bodily so as to take root in 

 any Spanish-speaking country, and the 

 American advertiser who does not seek 

 some practical compromise between what 

 he would like and what he can gel is 

 building up trouble for himself from the 

 very start. 



"Cuba is buying American goods in in- 

 creasing quantities every year. Advertis- 

 ing has been no small factor already in 

 helping to broaden these markets, and it 

 will continue to he of assistance in just 

 so far as we take intelligent advantage 

 of the means ready at hand and establish 

 for ourselves more and better points of 

 contact in Cuba for American advertis- 

 ing. The problems connected with foreign 

 advertising, and for the time being in- 

 separable from it. are many and various 

 and are no more susceptible of short cuts 

 and easy solutions than is the larger prob- 

 lem of foreign trade of which advertising 

 is but one phase." 



