“Are you Danish enough to be in a beer commercial?” : a selective analysis of representation and national branding in Danish beer advertising, 1980-2020

Abstract: When brands like Carlsberg or Royal draw upon the national brand of Denmark, they not only run the risk of reception resistance, but also of challenges to their claims of cultural legitimacy from the same consumer public they hope to entice, be it domestic or international. Through qualitative content analysis of a sample comprising mainly of print media collected from domestic sources, the author investigated the representation of and references to Danish cultural citizenship and national branding in a representative selection of beer advertisements from the Carlsberg and Royal Unibrew corporations, dating from 1980-2020. Through reflections upon the empirical data collected through analysis, the author presents the outline of a pattern observed wherein brand culture, primacy and recognition for the breweries concerned came under increasing pressure from the consumer public due to a combination of a generational shift in brand loyalties, changes in consumption patterns, societal realities, and customer sensibilities.