Hungary wants to ban Heineken’s Red Star

The Hungarian government is allegedly backing out of a draft bill that would ban the use of what it calls “totalitarian symbols” for commercial purposes. It will go to extreme lengths to achieve its goal, which may have consequences for Heineken, because the brand’s iconic red star is a target.

Under the bill symbols such as the swastika, the arrow cross, the sickle and hammer and the red star would be banned for commercial use 30 days after it is approved by Parliament. Violating the ban after January 1, 2018 would constitute a criminal offence. Anyone in breach of the proposed law could face a fine of 2bn forint (€6.5m) and two years’ jail.

“We believe we have to defend every Hungarian brand when someone wants to use its market dominance to squeeze out others,” Lajos Kosa, the parliamentary leader, told reporters on Tuesday. The bill banning totalitarian symbols and the Heineken case is the “confluence of two issues,” he said.

Hungary wants to remove red stars, because they were the symbol of the communist dictatorship that was in control for almost fifty years. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government feel it is their moral obligation to forbid these symbols without any possible consideration for their origin: Heineken stated that their logo is an old brewers’ symbol dating back to the Middle Ages, but the (far) right government seemingly ignored that information.
 
“The star’s points symbolize the four natural ingredients, with the fifth as the unknown magic of beer brewery”, Heineken said.
“We use the same brand symbols across the world, in every market,” the firm said in a statement released this week. “We will closely monitor this local issue and hope … this matter will be resolved soon.”

Orbán’s opponents see a common ground with previous acts from the Hungarian government. They see in this attempt to label Heineken’s logo as a communist symbol an “alternative” effort to give Hungarian companies preference over foreign companies. 

In a 2008 lawsuit, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a red star cannot be understood as exclusively representing communist totalitarian rule. In 2013, the Hungarian Constitutional Court struck down a law that sought to criminalise the use of symbols associated with totalitarian regimes, saying the law was too broad in scope and undermined freedom of speech.