Business View Magazine - November 2016

20 Business View Magazine - November 2016 The bat has always been more than just a logo for Ba- cardi—it’s an ecological partner and a metaphor for the iconic rum brand that touts, “We Are the Night.” Bacardi support for bats goes back to its founding in 1862 when Doña Amalia Bacardí, the founder’s wife, spotted a colony of fruit bats in the rafters of the first Bacardi distillery in Santiago de Cuba. In Spain, where the Bacardí family emigrated from, and with the native Taíno Indians in their new homeland of Cuba, bats symbolized good health, family unity and good fortune, so the Bacardi founder made sure the bats remained in the distillery and became identified with his rum. The Bacardi creation became known by the Cuban people as “el Ron del Murciélago” or “the Rum of the Bat.” Today, the Bacardi bat device still proudly graces every bottle of Bacardi rum, as it continues to inspire new “outside-the-bat-box” con- servation and sustainability directives beyond the company’s literal and figurative walls. Opening Lines