Laura Martínez, Harlem
Category: Marketing & Advertising
Cinco de Mayo: America’s Stupidest Holiday Is Almost Here!
Awwww, Cinco de Mayo.
No matter how many bizarre holidays Americans come up with, Cinco de Mayo will forever be my favorite one. And not only because it’s an excuse to drink all day and yell ¡Viva México! while thinking it’s our celebration of Independence (it’s not.) But it is also the time of year that brings out the stupidest most creative marketing brains to sell Americans everything, from DIY printable fiesta kits and taquito shooters (whatever that is,) to senseless drink mixes, “ethnic food” and even life-size cardboard Mexicans as scene setters.
This time around, though, in honor of that amazing marketing took known as Twitter, I’ve put together a few tweets making their way to my timeline.
NOTE: We’re still a full week away from the actual fiesta and this list will be updated in the following days, but let’s get to it right away, shall we?
1. This mariachi-themed pitch from BelVita
2. How about some taquito shooters?
3. Old El Paso’s Suspicious-Looking ‘Tacos’
4. Go ahead, print your own fiesta kit
Use this Printable Fiesta kit for your #CincoDeMayo party & have time left to drink Margaritas http://t.co/rwa4FLhWtX pic.twitter.com/SSQWQliRZx
— paperandcake (@paperandcake) abril 27, 2015
The craziness is such, that even Whole Foods London is jumping on the Cinco de Mayo wagon:
5. Wait, what? Whole Foods London?
6. Or… Sombrero Cinco de Mayo Cookies
7. José Olé Cinco Savings Coming Soon
Prepare your party for a flavor-packed offer worthy of any #CincodeMayo celebration. #coupon pic.twitter.com/EKdHf2tsrH
— José Olé Central (@JoseOleCentral) abril 19, 2015
8. Taco Bell, of course
Last but not least, the King of Ruining Mexican Food, Taco Bell, has already announced plans to introduce a new hot sauce on Cinco de Mayo called Diablo. The sauce, says Taco Bell, will only be available for a limited time and it’s made with a variety of peppers, including ají panca, chipotle and chili. Here it is, in all its GIF glory.
Taco Bell’s hottest sauce packet ever. Try it May 5. #Diablo pic.twitter.com/hT6wrUiyuQ
— Taco Bell (@tacobell) abril 22, 2015
I don’t know about you, but at this point in my life, the only Cinco de Mayo thing worth watching is this one.
Hey, Gringo, Get Ready to Print your Own Cinco de Mayo Kit!
Cinco de Mayo (aka this blogger’s favorite faux holiday) is just around the corner, and this year — with the explosion of Twitter, Snapchat, Periscope, Instagram and the like — the marketing furor promises to be crazier than ever before. Muy loco, indeed!
Stay tuned for this blog’s full “coverage” of this year’s non-Mexican holiday. In the meantime, take a look at this kit offered by Paper & Cake and start printing your own fiesta kit.
¡Ajúa!
TWA Once Offered ‘Foreign Accent’ Flights; Alas, not ‘Hispanic’
“All in all, TWA’s new ‘Foreign Accent’ flights bring you […] foreign music. Foreign magazines and newspapers. Foreign touches all around.”
Unfortunately, none of this included us, *the* Hispanics, so this blog won’t be shedding any more ink here.
Sombrero (hat) tip: Ricardo Trejo
Empire State Building Goes Red to Honor Hispanics [Sort of]
If you still don’t believe me when I say Spanish-speakers rule New York, you might want to keep an eye on the Empire State building this coming Sunday, April 26, when it is set to go totally red in celebration of Telemundo 47 New York’s 50 year anniversary. Yes, and it’s not a joke, my friends.
Per a press release quoting the great Cristina Schwarz (a personal friend, mind you)…
“On the evening of Sunday, April 26, viewers from all across the New York Tri-State area will be able to look up to the beacon of our skyline as it beams in red, in honor of our station’s past and the promise of our future as we reaffirm our commitment to be the first informers our communities demand and deserve.”
I don’t know you, but as a proud Hispanic, I’ll be anxiously waiting for the red lights to go up and then tune in my TV set to … Mad Men.*
*It’s nothing against Telemundo, really. I just need to know what’s going to happen with Don Draper’s sombrero,
What’s this Blogger Supposed to Do without Don Francisco?
What???!!!
After 53 years on the air, Univision today confirmed that Sábado Gigante, that weekly extravaganza featuring humor, music, contests and many, many scantily-clad Latinas will end its current cycle on Sept. 19, 2015, to coincide with the end of the 2014-2015 broadcast television season.
You know what this means right? This means no more Miss Colita or Miss Mamacita beauty pageants (i.e. no more fun for this blogger.)
Sniff, sniff
In all seriousness, he’s going to be missed, para bien o para mal. I also wrote this for when he was awarded to Lifetime EMMY achievement.
Watch Reese Witherspoon and Ellen DeGeneres Imitate Sofía Vergara [Video]
This happened this week on The Ellen Show. The sketch is funny, alright, but it’s interesting in that it’s further proof that Sofía’s “dimples” and strong “Latin accent” (fake or not) can be a real asset for so-called mainstream television outlets.
Via: The Ellen Show
Black Man. White Man. Mexican Sombreros. ‘Mad Men’ Finally Shows Commitment to Diversity
‘Parents Latina:’ Because Hispanic Millennial Moms are Unlike Regular Latina Moms
Meredith Co. has launched Parents Latina, a quarterly English-language magazine targeting “Hispanic Millennial Moms,” a group that apparently requires its own parenting tips –and one that doesn’t care less if the words Parents and Latina don’t really go well together in a sentence.
But I digress.
Meredith Co. already has Ser Padres, a Spanish-language magazine targeting, ahem, Spanish-speaking parents, and Parents magazine, an English-language magazine targeting English-speaking, non-Hispanic parents. But apparently none of these was good enough for needy, self-serving Hispanic Millennial Moms, who just like all other millennials, just have-to-have-their-own-thing.
And what particular advice does Parents Latina offer to Hispanic millennial moms? I have no idea, but I’m guessing it will include some useful tips & advice, including:
- How to take a selfie without losing your child in the process
- Instagram your breast-feeding process and wow your friends!
- 125 Reasons why your bundle of joy is more important than you
- How to ‘Periscope’ while pushing a stroller through a crowded mall
I don’t know, but once I get my hands on one of these I’ll keep you guys posted.
Jimmy Kimmel -and Mexican sidekick- Visit Austin’s Piñata District. It Gets Interesting [Video]
Jimmy Kimmel and Mexican sidekick, Guillermo, will have a shot of tequila every time someone says the word “piñata.”
WARNING: They are actually in Austin’s piñata district, so you can imagine what happens next:
Latina Bloggers Now Come with a Dose of Tabasco Sauce
OK, shame on me, but given the fact they will never invite me again, my very busy schedule, this year I was not able to attend Hispanicize, that smoochfest between Mommy Bloggers and their Corporate Sugar Daddys I once had the fortune to witness.
However, thanks to the power of Internet — and online press releases — I was able to follow closely the details of the 2015 edition of Hispanicize, including a very important piece of news: Gaby Natale, the blogger aka SuperLatina was at hand to “spice up” the Latinovator Award event with “a good dose of Tabasco sauce.” Why?
Per the aforementioned press release:
Hispanicize is like the Latino South by Southwest. If it’s happening, Hispanicize is where you’ll find it. That makes it a perfect fit for Tabasco, a very unique company that blends the traditionalism of a 147-year-old company with a cutting-edge sense of branding
I’ll do my best to try to attend next year, if only to see how far “my spicy background” can get me.
I’ll keep y’all posted, but Shhhhh…. Don’t tell anyone!
Here is a $12.99 Plastic Taco Truck Taco Holder
If you are one of those people who insist on eating hard-shell “tortillas” stuffed with a suspicious melange of sour cream, olives, cheddar cheese and lettuce, you might as well be interested in the $12.99 Taco Truck Taco Holder, a plastic contraption that will help you “cradle” one of those… things.
It’s only $12.99, so how can you go wrong?
Macy’s Spring Collection: You, Too, Can Look like a Short, Dark-Skinned Mariachi
It’s always good to see marketers learn from their past mistakes. Remember the Brown is the New White t-shirt from Macy’s?
Well, no more of that. Instead of launching ethnically-relevant products to please Latino shoppers, Macy’s seems to have changed course and it’s now using tall, unmistakably non-Hispanic blonds to pitch a … are you ready?… “mariachi-style” suit. According to Macy’s own blog, the new collection doesn’t stop there. It promises tons of other Mexican-themed things, including –what else?– plenty of sombreros.
I don’t know you, but I feel like living la vida loca lived by these nice ladies up here, so don’t judge me if the first thing I do when I go back to New York is rush to 34th Street & Broadway. Who doesn’t want to look that fabulous?
¡Ajúa!
Hat tip: gbujanda
Stay Tuned for this Blog’s Coverage of MWC15 in Barcelona
Barcelona might not be the place to go for a taco lover like myself, but I will do my best to bring you this — and other equally delicious — gadgets and technology trends during this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Follow me on Twitter for your daily fix of Jamón – and tapas- inspired tech or, for a “slightly” more professional (albeit less funny coverage) follow me and my colleagues at CNET.com/ES [en español.]
‘Bean Bang Theory’ Concludes: It’s Colombia not Columbia
I have no idea how much money the Colombian government has put into its latest coffee campaign, but their creatives could use a little help. Besides the name of the campaign, which is supposed to be a pun (Bean Bag –Not Big Ban– Theory, get it?) there’s nothing much more here, except a long video, featuring a gringo showing us around Colombia.
The only positive thing I can say about the Bean Bang Theory is that it makes it clear what I’ve been saying all these years: It’s Colombia, Not Columbia.
