This is something that bothers me from time to time. Have you ever noticed how mass media always portrays hispanics as Mexicans? We’re not all Mexican, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I’ve been watching a lot more Spanish language TV since I got hooked on my novela (Spanish language soap opera) called “El Cartel de los Sapos.” It’s a story about Colombian drug traffickers, but that’s not important right now.
Here’s the deal, a lot of the commercials on TV and a lot of the programming on Spanish language TV seems to be aimed at Mexican immigrants. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I’m pretty sure that Mexican Americans are not the only people watching Spanish language TV.
Why only cater to them?
I don’t like banda music, I can barely stand norteño music so that kind of music in a commercial will automatically turn me off. We also don’t all like low riders, nor wear wife beaters and bandanas on our heads and wear sagging pants.
Despite what you hear on Faux News, we’re not all crack smoking illegal immigrants on welfare.
A lot of us Hispanics or Latinos are professional people that have professional jobs. A lot of us live in suburbia and commute to work in our stock Mercedes Benz, Lexus, Volvos, Chevys and Fords. Some of us don’t speak Spanish, but a lot of us do.
We don’t all have trucks and live in the barrio, by the way if you’ve watched any TV you may have seen that one commercial of the Hispanic guy that buys a truck and suddenly he has a moving business. I don’t know what they’re selling in that commercial, all I know is that I don’t like it.
Just sloppily translating something into Spanish and putting a couple of chickens in it, with a norteño music backdrop does not make it targeted to the Latino market.
Stop doing that.
Here’s what you should do:
Take a moment to think about what is appealing about your product and what would make me want to buy it. Don’t pander to me, treat me with respect.
We’re not an entirely homogenous group.
Within the Latino population there are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, Venezuelans, Colombians, Cubans, Brazilians (yes, Brazilians) and many more. Each subgroup has its own cultural queues that they respond to.
However, in the grand scheme of things, we all want the same things. We all want to be treated with respect. We’re all interested in products that will make our lives easier, better, more fulfilled. Meet us where we are, and give us that.
