USMEF program promotes meat consumption in Mexico.

An innovative promotional program recently gave the U.S. Meat Export Federation a chance to thank customers in Mexico. The association awarded consumers in select cities who purchased a specific amount of U.S. beef and pork with an evening out to a seminar and comedy show featuring Omar Chaparro, a popular comedian and TV actor on the Mexican edition of the "Big Brother" show. More than 3,000 attended the event, which also included a nutrition seminar on U.S. beef and pork presented by Dr. Nelson Huerta, USMEF-Mexico Deputy Director of Technical Services, and a cooking presentation featuring U.S. beef and pork performed by USMEF chef consultants. The promotion allowed customers to collect points from meat purchased between certain dates and then redeem the points for tickets to the event or souvenir items. The National Pork Board and National Soybean Board funded the promotion, which was called "No Manches" or "Come On!"