Forget Barbara Bermudo and Jackie Guerrido. This afternoon, during Univision’s upfront presentation at Time Warner Center, the ones making heads turn were some top media and advertising executives who have been shedding some serious pounds lately to look good and slim for the occasion.

Kudos to Manny Vidal, Alex Lopez-Negrete and Otto Padron for losing those extra pounds. What’s their secret, really? It’s gotta be the exercise and excess work cause they were all nibbling at the mini empanadas as if there was no tomorrow.

One of these characters (pardon, but will not say which) said he’s still working on losing some more weight: “I will not stop until the gay guys start chasing me!”. Ay, ay, ay!

The Hispanic television upfronts are always great for networking. For several days, you get to share food and drinks (sometimes too many) with some of the main players in Hispanic media and advertising. But besides the fun, there’s never really much in the area of news or ideas to come out of these events.

Until today.

This morning, right before Fox Sports en Español’s upfront presentation at Cipriani, an advertising exec I like and admire suggested I become something like “El Gordo y la Flaca” of Hispanic media and advertising. If you know El Gordo y la Flaca, you know that nothing escapes them when it comes to Latino celebrities. So, this exec told me, I should try to do the same with the chismes surrounding Hispanic media.

I guess that was sort of what I attempted when I started this blog, but I couldn’t have put it better. That might be my true calling and perhaps my new title: Latino Media & Advertising Gossiper. After all, serious journalism seems so pasee these days.

Of course I will need your input -and chismes- to make it happen. Write to me, even if you wish to remain anonymous. Who knows? this “business” might prosper someday to hire my very own team of paparazzi.

Stay tuned for highlights on Azteca America, Telemundo and Univision upfront presentations in New York City. 

Hispanic leaders in Ohio can now be happy. The local radio station WLW has agreed to bring down a billboard considered by many as offensive.

The culprit is a huge billboard showing a donkey and a man wearing a Mexican sombrero and dark moustache under a sign that reads “The Big Juan.” See? the radio station’s slogan is actually “The Big One,” thus the play on words.

As usual, the main complain had to do with the use of stereotypes and what the gringos at the station thought was the way Mexicans look. Now, if you ask me I think “The Big Juan” thing is actually quite funny, but if WLW wanted to be accurate, instead of bringing down the billboard it could have just replaced the donkey with an SUV or, even better, a Hummer. That would make Juan your “typical” Mexican in the U.S.

As far as the flag is concerned, it could very well become the bumper sticker. Ajúa!!!