‘Time’ Puts Mexico’s President on Cover. Hilarity Ensues.

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Time Magazine had the super terrific idea to put Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto on the cover of its Feb. 24 cover (most likely knowing that it would stir controversy, especially among my people.)

While I’m not going to get all political or bitchy here as I would like too (who has the time?) I just wanted to take the opportunity to highlight -once again- how wonderfully witty Mexicans can be.

The following are only very few of the many ‘memes’ already making the rounds on the Internet. Enjoy!

I don’t know you but

Insight: How to Attract more Hispanics to your Restaurant

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I just love it when business writers and business journals on the business of writing meaningless business pieces give business owners advice on how to attract more Hispanic customers to their, ahem, businesses.

Take the Orlando Business Journal, whose appropriately-named Latino spin-off (Latino Business Journal) recently walked us through 4 tips to get more Hispanics into your restaurant.

Among the earth shattering insights shared by presumably non-Hispanic writer Hernan Tagliani:

Make it a pleasant, relatable experience. […] Fresh, healthy ingredients, along with quality and service are very important factors.

Because, as everybody knows, non-Hispanics love to dine out in unpleasant, un-relatable places, where they can stuff themselves with canned foods and unhealthy ingredients.

Thank you, Orlando Business Journal, for the insight!

At Last! English-language TV I Can Actually Understand

jorge-ramos-y-leon-krauze_323x216The big news today was the official launch of Fusion, the ABC News/Univision joint cable network, whose tagline, Not Everybody Gets It, is more than fitting, considering I have Time Warner Cable and thus, I don’t GET it.

But I digress. Among Fusion’s premiere shows today were America with Jorge Ramos, and Open Source, hosted by León Krauze, both Mexican paisanos of mine, who will be hosting their own English-language shows.

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This, of course, couldn’t make this blogger any happier. At last, after all these years in this country, I’ll be able to watch English-language TV and actually understand it.

Can’t wait for much more of stuff like this. After all, as Jorge Ramos says: This is ágüer America! O sea que ¡ajúa, güeyes!

New Hispanic Venture Launches in Lorem Ipsum-Language

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Hispanic online media has grown to be so sophisticated, that we have web properties targeting English-dominantSpanish-dominant and even Spanglish-dominant Latinos.

But a new contender, www.LatinaMadre.com, wants to disrupt the whole industry by launching a page in Lorem Ipsum, which is great, really, considering it’s going to be about Latina moms, and Latina daughters and Latina moms and daughters, which all sound like blah, blah, blah to me.

(Or rather, like lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum to me.)

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‘El Tiempo Latino:’ What Jeff Bezos Was Really After…

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As usual, the so-called “mainstream media” missed the boat on this one.

For all the hoopla around Jeff Bezos buying the Washington Post, most media writers failed to point out that the Post is the proud publisher of El Tiempo Latino, a weekly Spanish-language publication that prints awesome cartoons like this one and targets the many, many Latinos that are taking over D.C.

So… if you thought Bezos paid $250 million for The Washington Post, think again. What he was really after was the ever-exploding, trillion-dollar-opportunity that only Hispanic print media can deliver.

After all, there’s no point in denying his Cuban background, is there?

Doritos Dinamita: Your Key to the Elusive Hispanic Millennial

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Are you trying to reach the elusive Hispanic millennial but not sure how to go about it? I don’t blame you… After all, Hispanic millennials, while similar to regular, non-Hispanic millennials are a “dynamic group of individuals with diverse backgrounds and distinct traits.” Duh.

This and other shocking revelations can be found in this “insightful” (LOL) PR Week piece, which has laid out some awesome marketing tips for brands trying to reach Hispanic millennials. My favorite:

An example of a brand creating a product “para mi” is Doritos’ launch of Dinamita Nacho Picoso, rolled tortilla chips that are similar to taquitos (also known as flautas), a common Latin American dish. This not only illustrates Doritos understands the culture and flavor preferences of this community, but underscores the influence Hispanic Millennials and the Latin palette have on driving mainstream trends and new products.

Other insights inform us that Hispanic millennials “listen to Calle 13 and Jay-Z and eat arroz con pollo and mac and cheese interchangeably,” which is, like great and all, although I’m not sure where the Dorito-Nacho-Picoso-Latin-eating fits in here. You tell me.

There’s a Culturally-Relevant Journalism School in NYC

Periodismo

I think I’ve said this a million times, but I love my neighborhood.

And not only because I can easily find authentic foods like Hispanic lettuce and ethnically diverse beauty salons, but because business owners really go out of their way to cater to an increasingly Latino demographic.

I might not live near Columbia, but I’m a proud neighbor of the Dominican Institute of Journalism, founded by Dr. Pittaluga in 2005. ¡Sí, señor!

 

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Mi Casa es tu Casa


My grandmother used to say that la ociosidad es la madre de todos los vicios (Idleness is the mother of all vices.) While no one can ever dispute that, I would like to add a modern twist to her very wise insight: “Unemployment is the mother of all blogs.” (Of course, there’s also my friend Diego who says: “Idleness is the vice of all mothers,” but that’s a whole other story.)

Now that you’ve read this far, I might as well let you know who I am: I am a bilingual, not-yet-acculturated Mexican journalist and editor specialized in media, marketing and advertising. I’ve lived in a bunch of places, including Singapore, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Paris, Santiago de Chile and New York City.

In my most recent position, I was the founding editor of Marketing y Medios, an English-language trade publication devoted to explaining the Hispanic market to a non-Spanish speaking audience of executives and marketers. I left that company in December of 2006, following its sale to a new owner.

Prior to my wonderful two and a half years there, I was responsible for creating and launching the Spanish-language edition of The Wall Street Journal, as well as coordinating and editing their Spanish-language Web edition at americas.wjs.com. Before joining the Wall Street Journal, I had worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers and magazines in Mexico, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and Los Angeles.

And last but not least, I’d like to add that before graduating with a BA in Journalism at the Escuela de Periodismo Carlos Septien Garcia, in Mexico City, I completed my high-school education at the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore.

Throughout my career, I have developed extensive experience and industry contacts in journalism, marketing, and advertising. I am fluent in English, Spanish and French and have promised myself to take up Mandarin some time soon. You never know.

So bienvenido a mi blog. Welcome to my blog. Mi casa es tu casa or, as my friend Carlitos suggests I’d say, Mi Blog es tu Blog.