Yes, my friends. For reasons I yet have to comprehend -and according to the always reliable source of information for serious, professional journalists (i.e. Twitter)- Taco Bell has partnered with @TheHundreds to create “a pair of Mexican food-inspired illustrated socks.”
Don’t get me wrong, Taco Bell lovers. While I understand your fervor about some of the chain’s gastronomical creations, including the Dori-Taco and the Quesarito, I just wanted to take a second to let you in on a little secret of mine: Pssssst, that ain’t no Mexican food, you know?
Regardless, I’m sure you won’t be breaking the bank here as I can almost assure you these fine stockings have been hand-crafted in China by adorable 5-year-old Chinese kids… Awwww.
Anyhow, for a more accurate picture of what Mexican food looks like, you can click here, here or even here.
Earlier today, a couple of friends forwarded me a press release put out by Dallas-based Pizza Patrón pizza chain and urged me to do -or rather, write- something about it. The headline was attractive enough for me to pay attention:
At the heart of the matter was the refusal of “a number” of Spanish-language radio stations to air an upcoming radio spot for Pizza Patron’s new jalapeño-stuffed pizza. The reason? The name of such pizza, “La chingona” apparently does not sit well among executives at the radio stations and is considered un-apt for the good ol’ Latino family.
My immediate reaction was: Really?!?… Actually, that’s not accurate: My immediate reaction was: ¡No chinguen!
As a native of Mexico City, I grew up listening -and learning to master- all forms and variations of the noun chingada and the verb chingar. See? Growing up in Mexico, you don’t say “Damn it!” when things don’t go according to plan, you say Me lleva la chingada. Same when someone is getting on your case, you don’t ask him/her to bugger off, but instead say Chinga tu madre. When you are supremely awesome and superior (i.e. like yours truly) you simply say Soy muy chingona… etc. etc. The concept is so wonderfully rich, that even Octavio Paz wrote an entire essay about la chingada: Los hijos de la Malinche.
But I digress… According to the aforementioned press release, Pizza Patrón was informed that its new ad campaign “would not be permitted to air on a number of major radio networks,” because the word chingona is considered a profanity and presumably would offend the Great Catholic -and Well-Behaved- Latino Family in America.
Readers of my blog know I’m not fast-food’s best friend. In fact, I live a somehow happy life free of frito-stuffed sandwiches or jalapeño-stuffed pizzas. But to cry “profanity” for using a harmless, beautiful word like chingona in an ad campaign to tout a “chingona pizza” just makes me want to scream:
I think it’s nice of retailers to include Spanish-language signage in their stores. But if they are going to go the extra mile to include accents, they would be well advised to check a dictionary.
That shouldn’t be that hard, would it?
Photo: Laura Martínez, NYC.
UPDATE: An earlier version of this post misidentified the store. The photo was taken at Burlington Coat Factory in New York City.
Seriously, people, this blog cannot get enough “Mexican food” nonsense.
Just when I thought the height of ridiculousness had been reached with the Frito-stuffed Chicken Enchilada Melt and/or the Dori Taco, comes the Quesarito, a Quesadilla/Burrito hybrid.
According to Los Angeles Times –and for reasons I yet have to comprehend– the Quesarito is being tested only in Oklahoma City, presumably because Oklahomans were all cool about it and couldn’t tell the difference between one bad wrap and the other.
Also according to the L.A. Times, the Quesarito might not see the light of day outside Oklahoma. Thank God.
Three Twins Ice Cream, a company I never heard of but I think it’s on an awesome path to success, has partnered with Sergio Romo, a closer for the San Francisco Giants, to launch Sergio Romo’s Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream, which will be marketed -naturally- under the only possible tagline: It Only Tastes Illegal.
While I applaud the efforts of Three Twins Ice Cream to launch a Mexican/illegal-themed thing, I would be more inclined to try a Sergio Romo’s Peyote Popsicle or even a Sergio Romo’s Mota Cone. But… chocolate and cinnamon?
Meh!
Hat tip: Mi Blog es tu Blog SF correspondent: Kent German
The folks over at GrandeLASH products were so eager to peddle its “outrageous” GrandeLASH mascara to Spanish-speaking Latinas, they picked up the first dictionary they came across and looked for the Spanish translation of the word “lash.”
Per WordReference:
And so this happened:
I don’t know you, but I don’t like latigazos –neither before nor after– I go to “accost.” And don’t get me started on restalleos…
If you thought Subway’s Fritos Chicken Enchilada Melt was as culturally relevant as the fast-food chain was going to get, think again.
In the latest example that Hispanic-targeted marketing knows no limits, Subway Restaurants this week announced a partnership with Univision to “seamlessly integrate Subway products and restaurants into Televisa’s hit telenovela Qué pobres tan ricos (Poor, But Rich).
The first integration, say the partners, will show one of the characters surprising another with a Subway $5 Footlong.
Per a joint Univision-Subway press release:
“This integration allows us to reach Hispanic audiences in an engaging and authentic way,” says Gabriela Mangieri Harper, multicultural marketing manager at Subway.
Because everybody knows that, to effectively reach Hispanic audiences, there is nothing more authentic than a Fritos Chicken Enchilada Melt
On the heels of the unshockingannouncement that CNN Latino is to shut down later this month, more bad news about Hispanic things are coming to the Hispanic world of Hispanics in the U.S.
According to The Packer, a trade publication you’ve probably never heard of, Wal-Mart plans to pull the plug on its lone Más Club pilot store.
In case you don’t know, Más Club was an 87,000-square-foot warehouse store (similar to a Sam’s Club) but carried more Hispanic-focused products, presumably Hispanic cheese, Mexican Coke, Cuban sandwiches, Pringles Tortillas, Hispanic lettuce and the like. A Hispanic Sam’s Club if you will.
This is a bummer, because I guess my people will have to settle for shopping at a regular, non-Latino Wal-Mart. But hey! Not everything is sad news: Very soon, we will be able to get our entertainment from Variety Latino, and not from the regular Variety. And if this doesn’t cheer us up enough, we should always remember that 2014 has been coined as the Year of the Latino by Fox News Latino.
¡Sí, señor!
[In the meantime, I will backtrack on a previous plan to change the name of this blog to Latino Mi blog es tu blog. I’m sure it will not last one week under that moniker.
In case you’re wondering, (I’m sure you are) the Pringles tortilla chips come in three flavors: Truly Original, Nacho Cheese, and Southwestern Ranch. You might also want to know (I do) that Walmart also carries “Zesty Salsa” as an exclusive flavor.
To promote the Pringles Tortillas, the company is using the tagline Pop, Crunch, Olé! because as everybody knows, “Olé” is a typical Spanish expression that Spanish-speaking people in Spanish-speaking Spain use while enjoying a really good tortilla…
The Fritos Chicken Enchilada Melt arrives in Harlem
And just when I thought American “food” couldn’t get any more delicious and/or culturally-relevant, Subway has launched yet another disgusting awesome Hispanic-themed, culturally-relevant crunchy concoction.
According to the company, the Fritos Chicken Enchilada Melt, which debuted this weekend in my neighborhood, consists of “a pile of Fritos placed right on top of tender pulled chicken and authentic enchilada sauce.” Hell, yeah!
I’m not even sure what “authentic enchilada sauce” is (we don’t have that in Mexico, see?) but this sandwich is apparently so promising, that Subway had to squeeze a last-minute :30-spot (estimated US$4 million) to place a spot aptly dubbed Crunch Time to air during tonight’s Super Bowl.
I hope you enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday, even if you have to do so with non-Mexican, greasy, crunchy “food.”
Hat tip: Mi Blog es Tu Blog Tropical Correspondent @tropicarlitos
It took me forever to admit this. But I am a sucker for Latinos speaking with an accent. So instead of going for some serious journalistic outlet or other kind of Pulitzer-prize-winning publication, I am going to be watching #SOTUS with the adorably accented Jorge Ramos and occasionally switching to an irreverent Talking Hot Dog (who is now sort of my Twitter buddy.)
Oh, and did I mention I am NOT a so-called #millennial?
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