Month: November 2019

Kia Latino Wants us to Be Thankful… for our Car Specs

~ Mi Blog es tu Blog ~ Leave a comment

Kia Latino, which is like regular Kia but Latino, has given us some marketing jewels in the past, including the use of female mariachis to show they really, really, care about my people (i.e. The Hispanics) and diversity. And now, they want to remind us that Thanksgiving is a great time of the year to be thankful.

Thankful for… the specs of our cars, naturally.

Take the following Twitter ad, in which we find our “typical” Latino family passing around –what else?– tamales during what looks to be a very special Thanksgiving meal. The exchange (in an accented Spanish) goes something like this:

-Ramiro, what are you thankful for?

-I’m thankful for the engine, and its 240 horsepower; the heated seats and the heated steering wheel… an 8-inch smart touchscreen…

[DIALOGUE FADES]

I’m a bit suspicious about these particular Latinos as I would only be thankful for tamales. But hey, that’s me!

Now. What are YOU thankful for?

 

Tired of ‘Regular Thanksgiving?’ Make it a Latino Thanksgiving

~ Mi Blog es tu Blog ~ Leave a comment
Photo: Saveur
Photo: Saveur

Let’s be honest: Just as any other holiday, Thanksgiving has become mostly another good reason to eat and drink in excess (at least in my case.)

But if a 3 pm “dinner” of turkey, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce seems a little boring to you, you can always throw a “Latino Thanksgiving,” which basically means a three-day smörgåsbord of lechón, tamales, arroz, frijoles, elote, tostones, tequila, poker games — and plenty of dancing and family drama.

If any of the above sounds exciting enough, you are in luck.

Here are 8 SIMPLE STEPS to turn your regular Thanksgiving into a Latino one:

  1. Turkey? Who eats turkey? Run to the closest bodega and pick the biggest lechón available. Roast and stuff an apple on its mouth while you’re at it.
  2. Cranberry sauce? We don’t even know what that is. Get a mojo going or start a guajillo marinade for said lechón
  3. Start with plenty of tamales and make sure to serve rice, beans, gandules, tostones and/or plantains on the side.
  4. Pumpkin? Who eats pumpkin? Really. Pumpkin is only good when you use its flowers to make one of these.
  5. Start serving dinner at 10 pm, because, really, who has dinner at 3 pm?
  6. Once the meal is over, and liters of alcohol have been consumed, be ready for your mother, tía or abuela to start crying inconsolably over you not visiting more often, etc.
  7. No football. Who watches football? It’s not like it’s fútbol… Take out the baraja, the poker chips and open up the wallet.
  8. Turn up the music and dance like maniacs all night long. And do not worry about thy neighbor. Thy neighbor should be thankful to have a Latino family around. After all, what is Thanksgiving if not an opportunity to say gracias?

A Spanish-language version of this blog post first appeared on Univision.com

Texas Water Agency Thinks this Poster Is in Spanish

~ Mi Blog es tu Blog ~ 1 Comment

A small brouhaha erupted this week on Twitter after @LeChanclé posted this image (left) and tagged the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTWD) with the following message:

“With so many Spanish speaking people in Texas, the @ntmwd  thinks it’s better to google translate their campaign than hiring someone to do the job. This ad makes no sense in Spanish.”

And he’s right. The text MAKES NO SENSE whatsoever, but to make matters worse, the agency quickly responded by saying the message had been translated from English by an advertising agency and that, well, “translations into other languages are never exact.”

Really NTMWD? One thing is to take some liberties to help the message get across but Agua Tejano? Mantenerlo en el grifo?  I’m not even going to go into the whole “agua is feminine” and all that, but get your act together. Fire your agency or something and help us save water –and a good human translator!

 

Evo Morales Flies to Mexico Wrapped in Mexican Flag; Hilarity Ensues

~ Mi Blog es tu Blog ~ Leave a comment
Why settle for a flag when you can have something more… interesting?

Evo Morales, the former president of Bolivia who resigned under pressure from protesters and the military, flew to Mexico City on November 11th after the country’s top foreign official confirmed he had been granted asylum in the country.

In a tweet sent out on Tuesday night. Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed Mr. Morales was safe on a Mexican military plane after being granted asylum. Mr. Ebrard’s tweet included a a photo of Mr. Morales inside said plane and proudly holding a Mexican flag against his body.

As the news of the asylum spread on social media and elsewhere, the photo of Mr. Morales became a viral sensation after Vampipe, one of Mexico’s most prolific tuiteros –and master of memes– asked his followers to help turn Evo’s flag into something more… warm using the hashtag #CobijaEvo. (Cobija is Spanish for blanket.) The resulting images are, well, hilarious.

Just follow the hashtag #CobijaEvo for more Evo in Mexico fun…

From CNET en Español.

Is this Mexican Taquería Peddling Vegan Tacos or Guacamole with no Green Peas? 🤔

~ Mi Blog es tu Blog ~ Leave a comment

Taco Inn, one of Mexico City’s many ubiquitous taquerías, has jumped on the vegan bandwagon with what looks to be meat-looking meatless tacos.

A promo image posted recently by a Twitter user looks to promote a set of vegan tacos for $99 pesos with the legend: sINN chIcharoNN  (obviously playing with the taquería’s name (Inn) to spell out the phrase without pork skin (sin chicharrón.)

However, on closer inspection and by missing an “r” on the word “chicharrón” it looks as if Taco Inn is saying their guacamole has no chícharos (green peas,) which is making this blogger scratch her head in confusion:

Has the failing New York Times gone too far with this hideous thing?

Hat tip: @EdgarNunezM

 

Shanti Ananda Is Dead: RIP Walter Mercado

~ Mi Blog es tu Blog ~ Leave a comment
Adiós, Walter Mercado

Famed astrologer Walter Mercado passed away on the night of Nov. 2, 2019 in his natal Puerto Rico. According to multiple press reports, the flamboyant astrologer/actor/writer was in a bad shape for some time and finally perished from an apparent kidney failure.

Mercado, who had to change his name to Shanti Ananda following a bizarre legal battle, was known not only for his extravagant, sequin capes and shiny jewelry, but for sending his millions of followers a lot of amor and good fortunes in his daily horoscope readings.

Followers to this blogger will know I was particularly fond of the extravagant way he delivered his horoscope readings, like this time around Valentine’s Day when he had some good stuff to announce for us Taurus, “sons of Venus.”

Adiós, pues, Shanti-Walter whatever. Go read my mom her daily horoscope and rest in peace and with mucho, mucho, mucho… amor. 

This Beer Wants to Pay Homage to Aguas Frescas –for Some Reason 🙄

~ Mi Blog es tu Blog ~ Leave a comment

Just when you thought marketers couldn’t get any more creative, a new partnership is here to bring us Mural, a “joint homage to the classic agua fresca that also pushes the boundaries of what a beer can be.”

Mural is a joint effort between New Belgium Brewing Company and Mexico-based artisanal beer makers Cervecería Primus and, in what seems to be a very serious description of their product, one learns that:

“In Mexico, agua fresca is everywhere. They’re usually found in street food markets and feature a blend of seasonal fruits. Our cerveza takes inspiration from agua frescas and features hibiscus, agave, watermelon, and lime for a fresh, vibrant sip.”

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to have to pass on this promised vibrant sip. ¡Guácala!

Photo: @LeChancle