Your one-stop shop for all things Latin/Hispanic/Mexican
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) knows a lot about screwing financing the Thirld World, and now it wants to say so with a song.
On Friday, at its Annual Meeting in Miami, the IDB launched Yo Amo America [sic] campaign, “an advocacy and social marketing initiative” featuring Ricky Martin, Juanes and Juan Luis Guerra among others.
Oh.. and by the way: to some of the geographically-challenged people commenting on my March 31 Absolut Vodka posting, America is a continent not a country.
Forget the Olympics! Another type of “world-class entertainment” is coming to China.
Mexico’s Grupo Televisa today began production of Chou Nu Wu Di, the Chinese version of La fea más bella, the telenovela it refried from Colombia’s Yo soy Betty la fea and gave birth to Ugly Betty.
According to Televisa, the drama could extend for as long as 400 episodes, and it has been “adapted to Chinese tastes” (?) to make sure its content doesn’t offend the locals.
(I certainly hope the $20 million investment will serve such a purpose, as I’m still very offended by the Mexican version.)
I have to appreciate the feedback, and the mostly passionate responses to my Absolute posting. But por favor, dear readers, before you go on a Lou Dobbs-type of boycott against Absolut vodka, consider History for a second. This is actually what Mexico looked like before the infamous Treaty of Guadalupe, which marked the end of the Mexican-American war in 1848. The land you know now as Upper California and New Mexico were indeed part of Mexico before such a war.
It doesn’t really matter if we like it or not. Unfortunately, it is wars and invasions that make up our ever-changing world Geography. Consider the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Do we know what Iraq will look like in a few years?
As an absolute lover of Absolute, all I can say is: Keep on sipping!
In a perfect world, our loved ones wouldn’t die leaving us terribly saddened and alone. But in an “Absolut World,” wonderful things can happen, including getting the U.S.-Mexico border straight once and for all. (This print ad was taken from the current issue of Quién magazine, in Mexico City.)
I don’t care too much for milk but if hottie Enrique Iglesias asked me to take three glasses a day, I might very well do so. Iglesias is the latest celebrity to appear on bodybymilk.com to encourage Hispanic teens to drink his the liquid everyday.
A press release tells us that “Enrique understands the importance of being in tip-top shape in order to keep up with his busy schedule. That’s why he includes milk in his healthy diet.”
Little do they tell us though when we’ll get to see him wearing a creamy moustache around that delicious mouth of his.
Marketers would do just about anything to get their message across. But paying off a group of home-owners in a Caracas slum to have their brand exposed is a bit of a stretch.
The following is a real outdoor execution by Maggie in a Caracas slum. (Hat tip to Imágenes Dominicanas.)
Almost a year after I expressed my disappointment about not making it to People en Español’s 50 Most Beautiful Latinos, the Time Inc. title has found yet one more way to disappoint me: I am not happy to report that I didn’t make it either to this year’s 15 Most Influential Hispanics.
This year’s list includes some influential people you’ve probably never heard of, including Luis Balaguer, María López Alvarez, Carla Estrada and Lillian Rodríguez.
Luckily for me, absent from the list are Penélope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Thalía and Eva Longoria, so I guess I’m being considered for this year’s Bellos.
Cross your fingers!!!!
One thing you have to know about Mexicans is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously… Oh, and that we are simply the best when it comes to naming our small businesses.
Here’s La Taqui-Cardia, an aptly named taco joint located next door to -what else?- Mexico City’s Cardiology Hospital.
How else would you market a taquería in such a neighborhood?
Photo: Jimena Bermúdez, Mexico City
At last! someone other than myself dared criticize Spanish-language television in the U.S. But not precisely for the content of its programs but the alarming amount of fast-food commercials that are contributing to the obesity epidemic among Hispanic.
After reviewing 60 hours of programming airing between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Univision and Telemundo, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center found the stations averaged two to three food commercials an hour, with one-third of them specifically targeted to children.
The study, published this week in the Journal of Pediatrics, also suggests that “to reduce the impact of food commercials, young children should be restricted to two hours or less per day of TV, and parent should talk to their children about healthy diet and food choices.”
(I might add parents will be well-advised to suggest their kids read a book or two. After all, holding something with both hands might keep them from sticking them in the cookie jar… or the Doritos bag.)
Move over Cinco de Mayo Barbie. Here comes Ugly Betty, the doll, launched this week at the New York City 2008 Toy Fair. It comes complete with her staple blue trimmed red Guadalajara poncho; braces, glasses and thick black hair.
Oh, and in case you were wondering: uglier than this ‘thing’ is its price: $69.95.
¡Ay Caramba!
You can say anything you want about Mexican women except that we make false promises.
Take Lupita, a humble, provincial girl, who might not look like a top model but promises unbridled passion in addition to a big, hard butt and the possibility to touch everything you may fancy. (She is even willing to accept food stamps and a slice of cake in exchange.)
“Lupita, neither a top model, nor a hostess or the foreign type; why promise something I cannot give? I am humbly provincial and because I didn’t go to school I have to resort to these ads; I will let myself go (ED: seeking better translation for flojita y cooperando); 28 years, white, size 7, big and hard buttocks (not big hips though). Touch everything in 90 minutes. Everything with a condom. Unlimited relationships. $700.00 (ED: pesos, that is); I accept food stamps and a slice of rosca [de Reyes?]”
Photo taken from El Universal, México.
If you are remotely familiar with the Spanish-language, you will certainly know that “Póntelo” (Put it on) is by no means a direct translation of “Get Some,” which is the new slogan of the city’s official condom (yep, we New Yorkers have an official condom!).
Asked by the New York Times about the discrepancy, a Health Department representative simply said: “We have to use the words in the way they’re used in the communities we’re trying to reach […] ‘Get some’ did not readily translate into an easy-to-remember Spanish idiom. “We have to use the vernacular of the people we’re trying to reach.”
C’mon! You can do better than that. Want an easy-to-remember idiom? Here it goes:
¡ HOY TOCA !
Feliz San Valentín! (what are you waiting for? Get Some)
Meet Pepsi Retro, Pepsi’s brand new calorie-free beverage elaborated with pure sugar cane and bottled in retro-looking cans and bottles. (Somehow it looks like something you could have found in your abuela’s kitchen cabinet.
But don’t get too excited. Pepsi Retro is available only in Mexico and proudly pitched by the local Pepsi franchise as “a Mexican-made product made specifically to give Mexicans the taste they were waiting for.”
What better companion to a good crispy tacostada from the local Taco Bell?
Ajúa!
For all the money, work and marketing efforts involved in the promotion of small businesses, Mexican mom-and-pop shops have lots to teach the average world-wide entrepreneur.
Don’t have a lot of money to put up a sign outside your shop? No problem! just have your 6-year-old niece do it for you… Is it too long? Why worry? just split it in half… What about a hyphen? Who the hell cares?
Who wouldn’t want to patronize such a creative tailor?
Photo: Laura Martínez, Morelia (2008)
And speaking of non-Mexican Mexican food, restaurant chain Qdoba has partnered with Dr. Alan Hirsch, director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation (ha, ha, ha), to conduct a study aptly titled: “You Are What You Eat,” which concluded that preferences for Mexican foods such as tacos, burritos and quesadillas can indicate very specific and unique personality traits.
“With Mexican food preferences, we were able to find a correlation between which food people most enjoyed and what that meant about their underlying personality,” said Dr. Hirsch.
Gosh, am I a quesadilla-type of person? (someone who is dependable and a true friend; content being one of the crowd.) Or maybe I’m more like the chips & salsa type: aggressive, successful, achievement-orientated, and natural leaders. Am I leaning towards being a burrito?
So I went ahead and took the Qdoba Identity Test. Sadly, I have to report I am nothing but a Taco Salad-type of chick: “well-adjusted, empathic, understanding, and a perfect spouse, parent, and friend.”(Oh well, at least I am not a Nacho-type: “shy, quiet, reserved and introverted.”)
So what are you waiting for, you potential burritos? Go ahead and try the test yourselves. Heck! what else is there to over the weekend anyway?
MI BLOG ES TU BLOG 