It does not take a genius to see that Red Stripe's decision to cut off its sponsorship of Sumfest and Sting, as reported in Saturday's STAR, is going to have significant repercussions.

After all, these are the two most significant musical events, in terms of mental positioning as well as magnitude, on Jamaica's crammed entertainment calendar. Sumfest, save for Dancehall Night, which is the festival's biggest and most lucrative night, is on the milder side, while Sting is known as the hardcore end-of-year show, although they have tried to soften that image in more recent years.

Red Stripe was the major sponsor of both events, as Sting was entitled 'Guinness Sting' and Sumfest 'Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest'. As Maxine Whittingham-Osborne, Red Stripe's head of corporate relations, told The STAR: "The key thing is the fact that Jamaica has been so labelled as the murder capital of the world and we need to take stock of all the things that we are doing to contribute to it. The glorification of violence in the music is not helping our situation."

The repercussions on the events themselves, whether or not they will be held this year and who, if anyone, will take up the sponsorship slack, is left to be seen.

However, Red Stripe must be congratulated on its principled stance. They may be late, but they have let their voice be heard in no uncertain terms. And there is no doubt that the slew of smaller entertainment events will continue, controversial content and all.