Colombia Vows to Fight Stereotypes with… Stereotypes

Tired of having Colombia being portrayed as a country plagued by drug violence and prostitution, two Colombian enterprises and the Medellín City Hall have joined forces to launch The Colombian Ambush, an online campaign aimed at showing the world the real Colombia, one that has given us many great things, including “Gabo,” one of the world’s greatest writers.

The campaign will live exclusively online and is being crafted by Dallas-based Dieste. A series of videos have been directed by Simón Brand and use the typical Colombian stereotype to fight … the Colombian stereotype.

In Patrón, for example, we are presented with a scene very similar to Season I of Narcos, the Netflix sensation about the bloody era of the Pablo Escobar years. But instead of witnessing an exchange of drugs –or weapons– we see men exchanging books… books by the great García Márquez.

Watch as a very unusual patrón scolds his men for not bringing La Hojarasca.

(Oh, and while we’re at it, PLEASE REMEMBER: It’s Colombia, Not Columbia.)

Via: CNET en Español

 

Quick! Grab your Maracas and Go Get Yourself a pair of Cinco de Mayo Air Jordans!

Cinco de Mayo Air Jordans, because why the hell not?

Sneaker retailer Sneaker Bar Detroit can’t wait for Cinco de Mayo, so it’s now peddling a bunch of very colorful Air Jordans… so colorful, they will perfectly match your maracas.

Because nothing says Mexicou better than Air Jordans and … colorful sneakers.

¡Ándale, ándale, arriba, arriba!

Via: Sneaker Bar Detroit on Twitter

Marketing Ideas to Spice Up your ‘Cinco de Mayo’ 🌶

No Mexican friends? No problem! Get yourself a few Insta-Mexicans!

Cinco de Mayo is definitely my favorite faux Mexican holiday in the U.S. And not because it’s an excuse to drink all day long and scream ¡Viva México! while thinking it’s our celebration of Independence, but because it brings out the stupidest best marketing gimmicks to sell everything, from spicy tattoos and sneakers for the three-legged, to senseless drink mixes, “ethnic” food and even cardboard Mexicans!

Below, you’ll find a few of my favorite marketing efforts around this mostly-gringo holiday.

Enjoy … and ¡Que viva México, cabrones!

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Yes. There is a ‘Cinco de Mayo Carne Asada’ Gadget

CarneAsadaGadget

You guys must think I just make stuff up just to keep updating this wonderful blog and all. But no. Thanks to the ever creative minds of marketing professionals, there is always something new under the Latino-Hispanic muy caliente sun.

Señoras y señores: I give you the BBQ Dragon, the portable, hands-free, rechargeable gadget which –according to a presumably serious press release– will help you make “the best carne asada in town.” Why? Because Cinco de Mayo is approaching!

I’m not sure this thing was even conceived with carne asada or Cinco de mayo in mind, but who the hell cares? We are fast approaching this blogger’s favorite faux-Mexican holiday.

¡Ajúa!

Party City Wants you to Wear a Taco Headband and Shake your Maracas, Because Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, and the folks over at Party City are, like, super excited!

So for this year’s Authentic Mexican FIESTA™, the retailer is peddling a $4.99 Taco Headband; a $7.99 Taco Hat, and plenty of maracas, because the whiter you are, the harder you should work to look like a real Mexican.

¡Ajúa!

Hat tip: @EnriqueLimon

*LOL

NOT SURE YOU WANT A TACO HEADBAND? CHECK OUT OTHER SUPER AWESOME CINCO DE MAYO IDEAS BELOW:

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Leguizamo Embraces Latino Tokenism –Because Latin Things

Latino Tokenism Is a Thing

This blogger is not only tired of having worked 15 hours straight today. She’s also tired of weird Latin things like “Latino Tokenism” a term recently coined by comedian/entrepreneur Latin person John Leguizamo to explain why quotas (i.e. tokenism) are OK as long as Latinos get a piece of the trillion-dollar market we’re supposed to represent.

“I will take tokenism, quotas, just put one of us in there, he says. We are 20% of the population with $2 trillion in buying power […] That is the U.S. budget for this year. We have buying power. There is green to have, put us there, and you will see it,” Leguizamo said during a recent panel in Miami.

OK more tomorrow, I need to sleep –go dream of non Latin things.

 

Mexican Entrepreneurship Knows No Limits Part XVII

What else were you going to call your fitness center in Mexicali?

Mexico, the land that brought us El Chapo’s special gourmet coffee and original escape T-shirt, among millions of wonderful things, continues to foster local entrepreneurship.

Take this business owner in Mexicali, Mexico, who has found the BEST NAME EVER for his otherwise unremarkable fitness center.

MEXICANS: How can anyone NOT like us?

Hat tip: @lechancle

How to Turn a Chinese Restaurant into a Mexican One in Two Simple Steps

Why throw away a perfectly nice painting when you can turn your pandas into Mexican pandas?

Need to turn a Chinese restaurant into a Mexican one?

EASY! Just add some sombreros –and trenzas– to the pandas on your wall paintings, and… boom! You got yourself a Mexican-themed establishment!*

That is exactly what the owners of El Sol Restaurant in Harrisonburg Virginia did –making this already the best thing this blogger has encountered in 2018.

P.S. Did you notice the cacti growing and red chili sprouting from the trees? 🌶

Via: Reddit. Hat tip @ConAudifonos

This Restaurant in Des Moines Lets you Make your Own Burrito, Because Des Moines

I don’t know who did this, but they shouldn’t be making their own food.

It’s too bad Cosmo Kramer never fulfilled his idea of a cook-your-own-pizza-pie pizzeria. But you can thank Jaime Herrera, of Des Moines, for Happy Burrito, an “innovative” Mexican restaurant where you can build your own burritos. Yes, because really, how hard can this be? Plus, you are in Des Moines, so there’s probably not a whole lot to do there anyway.

But I digress. The point is that this thing is now open and surely pleasing the denizens of Des Moines (even though some of them have absolutely no idea of how to prepare anything.)

Via: Des Moines Register

Mexicans Poke Fun at Nike’s New Sportswear, Because… Really, Nike? 🙄

Can you spot the differences?

Nike’s new sports outfit is causing a stir in Mexico, because anyone who grew up down there would know it looks exactly like the uniform worn by kids in the country’s technical public high-schools.

Nike’s outfit consists of two pieces, a brown jacket with dark brown touches and matching jogging trousers, which are being sold for about $70 U.S. dollars (a pretty steep price for your average Mexican, if you asked me.)

All of that to look like… THIS?

Miami Baker Concocts Cake Featuring Fried Ham Croquetas –Because Miami

Behold the ‘Cuban tiramisú’

if you thought the Dunkin Donuts’ Cuban Sandwich wasn’t enough to lure you to the Sunshine State, consider this:

Andy Herrera, a happy-looking Miami baker based in Hialeah, is having his social-media moment of glory thanks to an abomination unusual creation of his: A vanilla cake filled with whipped cream, Nutella –and dozens golden brown, fried ham croquetas. Yup.

I know there are many things I don’t like/understand about Miami, but this one simply takes the cake (bad pun intended.)

Intrigued? Go read this here. I’m done.

Photo: MiamiHerald.com

The Millennial Lotería is Now on Sale –and it’s a Thing of Beauty

It took longer than I most of us wanted, but the awesome Millennial Lotería is finally on sale. It’s not cheap and apparently there won’t be tons of sets available, so you’d better hurry if you want to put your hands on these little wonders.

As creator Mike Alfaro told MiTú in 2017, “he remembered [the lotería cards] from his childhood but was shocked at how outdated they were, so he took the opportunity to create a parody version of the timeless game.”

Click on the gallery below to get a taste of this beauty –and start saving, my friends…(all images by Mike Alfaro.)

Via: Millennial Lotería