If you thought Hispanic marketers were running out of ideas, think again: This morning, while picking up my daily coffee at the local Starbucks, I came across the “Aztec Ancho Chile Muffin.” I swear, I’m not kidding here.

The suspiciously-normal looking treat was one of several “Hispanic-themed” products launched today as part of a special Latin American Spring celebration by the Seattle-based coffee chain. Also at hand were sweet-plantain pound cakes, dulce de leche-flavored lattes and pineapple empanadas. And my very own favorite: Café con Banana Dulce de Bajo Contenido Graso. (If you can say this without hesitation, and with the right accent, you qualify to receive a free pound of Brazil’s Ipanema Bourbon coffee, whatever that is).

OK, dulce de leche and empanadas I understand, but Ancho Chile (not Chile Ancho) muffins? It makes me wish for some kind of punishment … Aztec-style.

As The Walt Disney Co. kicks off production of The Frog Princess, the first animated film featuring a black princess, Mexican actor Diego Luna (Y tu mamá también, Nicotina) is ready for his next big role playing… Michael Jackson… yep, that Michael Jackson.

The movie is Mister Lonely by California-born Harmony Korine, and though not many details have been disclosed yet, it looks like an interesting project. Also starring is German acting monster Werner Herzog and Brooklyn celebrity magician David Blaine.

I wonder how Luna will be transformed from a black youth into a whiter shade of pale. Cinematic magic? or Blaine’s latest trick?

It is no secret that Mexicans are passionate about wrestling, boxing and any other sport that involves punching one another in one way or another. But don’t you dare offend our patriotic symbols because you will be up to trouble.

Take a current brawl in Portland, where the name of an upcoming martial-arts event has raised the ire of Oregon’s Mexican community. “Cinco de Mayhem” turned out to be too much to bear for a group of Hispanic leaders in Salem, who are calling for a name change, an apology and –while they’re at it– a crash course in diversity.

Mind you, I am not a wrestling fan and I don’t even know who the organizers of Cinco de Mayhem are, but to call for them to apologize because they’re offending one of Mexico’s “most sacred holiday” is pushing the “Latino pride” envelope a bit too far.

I wonder how many of the non-Mexican Hispanic community leaders in Oregon can tell you know what May 5 commemorates. Regardless, I would be curious to see what happens on May 5 when “Cinco de Mayhem” is set to be held: would the Mexicans set their TV sets to watch the History Channel?

What is it with Ritmo Latino and Latin pop divas?

One year after the Latin music retailer accused Shakira of dissing Hispanic fans in favor of the Anglo world, it is snapping J-Lo with the same accusation. This week, while the Bronx diva visited the neighborhood to promote her new Spanish-language album, Cómo Ama una Mujer Ritmo Latino announced it was banning it from its 50 stores nationwide. The reason? “We have supported her from the beginning. Now we’re told by her record company she will only visit Anglo retail outlets,” said Ritmo Latino CEO David Massry.

I am sure Mr. Massry has reasons to believe there is an Anglo conspiracy to take Shakira and JLo from their authentic “Hispanic” fans (whatever that means). But instead of boycotting Latino singers, and getting all pissed off at everybody, he should be fighting back by taking some gringo talent and promote it in his stores nationwide: We all know Britney and Michael Jackson can use a little marketing push … even if it’s in a chain of Latin music stores. You never know

Upon Univision’s $13-billion-sale (which was completed today), disgruntled partner/content provider Grupo Televisa on Thursday announced it sold its minority interest in the U.S. Spanish-language network for about $1.1 billion.

And though I’m sure Televisa’s Chairman Emilio Azcárraga Jean (above) has already some pretty good ideas about what to do with all that cash, I could not help but coming up with a few ideas of my own.

Hey, $1 billion is a lot of dough so I guess he can:

–Produce some good, responsible, politically-correct children programming… and sell it to Telemundo.

–Produce more of the same children programming, sell it to Univision and wait for the FCC to snap a fine.

–Create and broadcast a reality show called La Venta Más Fea. Dress up your most senior executives in baggy clothes, big glasses, retainers and Guadalajara ponchos, and have them ridicule and humiliate themselves in front of a group of bankers. (NOTE: the ugly executives win at the end, taking over the company).

–Lend Haim Saban some cash (he’s going to need it!)

–Fund a charity to Support Decent Advertising and have Lexicon and Sleepy’s be its first recipients.

–Hire a team of computer nerds and send them over to the U.S. to teach Latinos how to manipulate their PC’s proxys so they can watch Televisa’s programming online (for free)

I am sure the avid readers of this blog will come up some ideas of their own so that this list will keep growing.

$1 billion is a lot of money and there’s gotta be millions of possibilities.

I am officially depressed. It turns out marketing research firms do not want anything to do with me. Imagine how happy I was this morning when my friend Mercedes forwarded me the following posting from Craigslist:

Needed Mexican women for focus group, pay $50

We need MEXICAN WOMEN for a market study ( to give their opinion on a TV commercial)

They must be between the ages of 31 and 50 years old.

Location: Madison Ave

**MUST SPEAK SPANISH!!!
Pay is: $50

————————————————————————————-

Mind you: it’s not only the 50 bucks that caught my attention: I was perfect for the “gig”. I am a Mexican who speaks Spanish (duh!) still between the ages of 31 and 50 and, most importantly, I live only one block away from Madison Avenue! … So I immediately contacted them showing my utmost interest in taking part in such an important research.

Oh! but then came the pre-screening process, a 10-minute phone interview, in Spanish, which I failed miserably.

It went sort of like this:

–Which brand of facial cream do you use at night?
–None, really. I’m sorry.
–OK. Which is your cellphone provider?
–Verizon Wireless
–Oh. OK. What about education? did you finish elementary school?
–I have a BA in Journalism so I guess you can say I did…
–Oh… are you married?
–I’m divorced.
–I’m sorry chica, you just don’t qualify for our test but we’ll keep you posted on our upcoming focus groups.

I wonder if a marketer out there is looking to test products or services among educated Mexican women who happen to have a Verizon Wireless and a former husband. If so, please count me in. I can use the $50.

You can be short, a little fat and completely void of talent, but if your Spanish is poor you can kiss your beauty crown good-bye.

That was in a nutshell the bitter experience of a poor Orlando girl who travelled to Miami (by bus because she could not afford a plane) to take part in Univision’s latest reality show: Nuestra Belleza Latina, which kicked off last night with deep-pocketed sponsors including Maybelline, Garnier, Ford, Cingular and JC Penney. “Go Back and practice [your Spanish], then come back next year,” she was simply told by Carlos Calderon, one of the show’s Miami judges. Thankfully, and because Univision has a heart, it offered to pay for the young lady -and her grandma- to go back to Orlando by plane.

Come to think of it: Univision should try to sign up an additional sponsor in the language-course category: something like “Español para Latinos que sólo hablan inglés”.

In New York City, the girls did not have it easy either. Here, they were submitted to some grueling comments and remarks from the show’s implaccable and “prestigious” judges. (OK, one of them is Luis Jimenez, so you can imagine how it goes when someone like Jimenez is hired to judge beauty, manners and personality).

Nuestra Belleza is searching for the next U.S. Latina beauty. Contestants compete for the title, a contract as one of Univision’s on-air personalities, and a chance to win more than $200,000 in cash and prizes.

After a series of elimination processes in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Puerto Rico and Chicago, finalists will move to a Miami mansion where they will be faced to “weekly challenges” testing their talent and personality. Juicy!

For a second, I thought there was some kind of mistake. Tonight, while watching Univision’s newest telenovela, Destilando Amor, I found myself reading subtitles in Spanish while the actors (all Mexicans, of course) were engaged in long conversations in English.

I’m still not familiar with the plot (Destilando only debuted tonight), but there was a lot going on in London, so the actors had to pick up the phone and do all sorts of things in English. Actually, at some point, I cracked up: During what promised to be an R-rated love scene, Eduardo Yañez jumped out of the bed apologizing to his partner -in English!- for not been able to “perform.” The lady then stormed out slapping him with a cruel “You are a fraud!”

Maybe Univision, which for years and under the mandate of Jerry Perenchio insisted on a Spanish-only policy, is finally coming to terms with a simple reality: that at least some U.S. Hispanics can actually speak and understand other languages.

But let’s not get too carried away. Univision’s novelas are still bad and still Televisa-made. But at least while reading the subtitles you will be spared from some very poor acting.

Kudos to fellow journalist Luis Clemens, whose most recent posting is a brilliant showcase of what happens when writers and editors who do not speak Spanish (and do not understand the Hispanic market) are assigned to write or edit stories on the subject. 

Clemens, who knows better than anybody the importance of knowing where to put your eñes and your accents makes a detailed list of amusing examples found recently in a Television Week article. Read Luis’ complete posting here.

The editors of 02138, the glossy magazine “of and for Harvard graduates” published by media mogul David Bradley, have unveiled the inaugural Harvard Hubris Hall of Fame in its spring issue. 

The list, described as a collection of “the most egregious cases of Harvard Hubris in recent memory,” showcases the university’s most infamous graduates. It includes -of course- former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who is charged by the magazine’s editors with corruption, mild tyranny and bungling a major developing economy

Also included on the list of infamy: Paul Bremer, former head of Iraq’s Coalition of Provisional Authority; Enron’s Jeff Skilling; Cardinal Bernard Francis Law and Indian plagiarist Kaavya Viswanathan.

Want more Latinos? worry no more: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is already on the shortlist for next year. Yupi!

I want to thank my cousin Manolo, who wrote from Galicia to share this video with me. Hands down, it is the funniest thing I have seen in a very long time, and what makes it even better is the fact that it is candidly real.

For those of you who don’t Speak Spanish, the video you are about to watch was recorded during a recent press conference held by the councilman of La La Coruña, speaking about how “well-endowed” the city’s firefighters are.

Even if you don’t understand the double-entendre, the conference itself will have you on the floor laughing. Truste me, this is good stuff. Watch is here.

I am officially depressed. It turns out marketing research firms do not want anything to do with me. Imagine how happy I was this morning when my friend Mercedes forwarded me the following posting from Craigslist:

Needed Mexican women for focus group, pay $50

We need MEXICAN WOMEN for a market study ( to give their opinion on a TV commercial)

They must be between the ages of 31 and 50 years old.

Location: Madison Ave

**MUST SPEAK SPANISH!!!
Pay is: $50

————————————————————————————- 

Mind you: it’s not only the 50 bucks that caught my attention: I was perfect for the “gig”. I am a Mexican who speaks Spanish (duh!) still between the ages of 31 and 50 and, most importantly, I live only one block away from Madison Avenue! … So I immediately contacted them showing my utmost interest in taking part in such an important research.

Oh! but then came the pre-screening process, a 10-minute phone interview, in Spanish, which I failed miserably.

It went sort of like this:

–Which brand of facial cream do you use at night?
–None, really. I’m sorry.
–OK. Which is your cellphone provider?
–Verizon Wireless
–Oh. OK. What about education? did you finish elementary school?
–I have a BA in Journalism so I guess you can say I did…
–Oh… are you married?
–I’m divorced.
–I’m sorry chica, you just don’t qualify for our test but we’ll keep you posted on our upcoming focus groups.

I wonder if a marketer out there is looking to test products or services among educated Mexican women who happen to have a Verizon Wireless and a former husband. If so, please count me in. I can use the $50.

In an effort to alert young Latinas about the growing incidence of statutory rape, the Virginia Department of Health has opted to produce a fotonovela; Its title, though, almost gives the story away: Gracias, Papi.

The story starts out like most fotonovelas: Teenage Yaneth is at a picnic when she spots handsome David. She nabs his number and afterward, playfully sends him a text message. A few pages later, Yaneth is in a car alone with David, who turns out to be a man in his late 20s. He is demanding sex and 14-year-old Yaneth is scared.

The Virginia Department of Health says Gracias Papi will be distributed across Virginia starting in April.

It’s good to see marketers are finally moving away from abuelitas, piñatas and moustaches. Now, it seems, the buzz word is: wrestling, or rather Lucha Libre.

While the Cartoon Network is getting ready to launch an animation series featuring Mexican legend El Santo (or the Man in the Silver Mask), Coca-Cola expects to win over the hearts (and wallets) of Latino men by resurrecting Blue Demon, another classic who became famous for fighting vampires, snakes and aliens. In its most recent marketing pitch, Coca-Cola has launched Full Throttle, Blue Demon, a blue agave flavored drink that provides “energy for the everyday fight.” (yeah, whatever!)

Not to be outdone, AT&T Inc. recently announced that it signed an exclusive agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., and the pair will be launching a number of wireless related services that will bring popular luchadores, including El Hijo del Santo, to users of AT&T mobile services. What is it with the luchadores that have captured the imagination of the ever-creative Hispanic marketers?

I wonder if somebody is already rushing to secure the Mil Máscaras franchise. Anybody?

In his self-published book, Secretos de Impacto, former Univision reporter Pablo Padula speaks of rivalries among celebrities, “biased” news coverage and even some juicy sex gossip involving top executives during the 14-plus years he worked at the Spanish-language network.

Granted. I am not going to take a blank check from someone who worked at Primer Impacto to begin with. But some of Padula’s reflexions are just too amusing to ignore.

Take the cleavage factor.

Does Univision really want us to believe that Jackie Guerrido got a job thanks to her weather expertise? Or that Barbara Bermudo and Myrka Dellanos would be the network’s favorite damiselas if they were over 50, overweight or flat-chested? Does Roxana Franco spring to mind as your ultimate sports expert? I’m not so sure. As they say in my family: “Piensa mal y acertaras.” (Think wickedly and you will be right). Click here to get a taste of what gringos have to say about “Ms. Univision”. (Ladies beware: not politically-correct stuff here).

But I disgress. Padula says he’s surprised Univision has not yet come forward with a lawsuit. And he actually sounds quite disappointed about it. However, from his peaceful refuge in Barranquilla, the former Univision reporter says he’s working on a second book on the Univision saga. Stay tuned.

Full disclosure: Though I’ve never been employed by Univision, I did write a small piece a while ago on “En el hoyo,” Juan Carlos Rulfo’s wonderful documentary on the workers of the Second Deck of el Periferico. You can read that story here