Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Does anyone else wonder why we (US citizens) celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

Does anyone else wonder why we (US citizens) celebrate Cinco de Mayo? And go harder than Mexicans for it? It is a uniquely Mexican holiday to celebrate a uniquely Mexican event, right? The Mexican army beat the French Army (yes, Napoleon’s French Army) in 1862. Led by a fellow Tejano (y’all are welcome), Ignacio Zaragoza took a small entrepreneurial army that was outnumbered 2:1 and beat that larger, incumbent French army that was widely revered as an “unstoppable” force and hadn’t lost a battle in 50 years.

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It turns out that while Cinco de Mayo was the story of the entrepreneurial underdog WINNING, something Americans will always celebrate, there are other reasons why Americans should be grateful for the decisive Mexican victory.

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It turns out that while Cinco de Mayo was the story of the entrepreneurial underdog WINNING, something Americans will always celebrate, there are other reasons why Americans should be grateful for the decisive Mexican victory. First, no country in the Americas was ever invaded by a European force after the French’s failed attempt on Mexico. That’s wild because invading is basically all Europe did in the 1800’s. Western Europe of the 1800s was like the Kardashians of the 2010s - they were everywhere and you always wondered why. The second (potential) reason why Americans should celebrate Cinco de Mayo is because there is reason to believe Napoleon would have supported the Confederate Army in the American Civil War, which even if it did not lead to a different outcome, would certainly have led to more bloodshed. 

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With butterfly effects and all that, it is easy to imagine a United States and a world that is much different without the startup army victory on Cinco de Mayo, 1862. Of course, it’s also uniquely American to commercialize a holiday and we’re not averse to having a good time that’s at the intersection of commerce and culture! At Daraa we believe it's important to always understand the culture and communities that make commerce happen. And we take Cinco de Mayo as an opportunity to celebrate Mexican entrepreneurs who are taking on their own Napoleon-like opponents AND 5 beverage brands to ensure that you have the right options to have a great Cinco de Mayo. Feel free to take the story and a drink to your Cinco de Drinko party.

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Come for the celebration, stay for the culture...