On this this April 2015 segment, Univision News introduced Hispanics to María Diega Méndez, a lovely old lady who lives in Guanajuato, Mexico and happens to be very poor and very sick. The reason for all the media attention? She is the aunt of Columba [not Columbia, nor Colombia] Garnica, better known as Columba [not Columbia, nor Colombia] Bush.
The Univision segment basically makes one strong point: That should Columba (not Columbia, nor Columbia) become the U.S. First Lady, she should at least help pay for this poor’s woman’s medication.
I mean… after all, what are The Bushes going to do with the proceeds of their $75 Guaca Bowl?
Donald Trump (aka Mexico’s favorite piñata) this evening decided to kick Jorge Ramos out of a press conference, because Ramos wouldn’t sit down nor shut up, which basically means he’s not helping make America great again.
Barely five months after Donald Trump announced he was dumping Telemundo to join forces with Univision for the Miss Universe pageant, the Hispanic media giant decided it was just too much to partner with such a bocón.
According to a statement put out by Univision Communications Inc. on Thursday:
Today, the entertainment division of Univision Communications Inc. announced that it is ending the Company’s business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which is part-owned by Donald J. Trump, based on his recent, insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants. At Univision, we see first-hand the work ethic, love for family, strong religious values and the important role Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans have had and will continue to have in building the future of our country. We will not be airing the Miss USA pageant on July 12th or working on any other projects tied to the Trump Organization.
During a brief trip to New York for Upfronts Week, Univision host Jorge Ramos took some time to interview John Oliver.
They touched on many serious — and not so serious — topics, including Oliver’s memorable interview with Edward Snowden, which led to the following exchange:
Jorge Ramos: Why do you think [Snowden] picked you, and not a respected journalist?
John Oliver: [LAUGHTER] I’m not a respected journalist, because I’m not a journalist, I’m a comedian!
Yet, my favorite part has to be when the pair set out to discuss the subject of electronic imperialism and how bloody frustrating it is when when automatic operators simply cannot understand us, the Mexicans and the British.
I know this video has been going around for several days now, and that many of you have already seen it, tweeted it, instagramed it, facebooked it, etc.
Still, this blog had to make sure this footage also lives here, not only for ‘posterity’ but as a daily reminder of what should be the duty of many of us: Make corrupt politicians accountable for their [disgusting] actions or, as Jorge Ramos contends, demand their resignation when necessary, which – of course – applies to this case. Absolutely.
At some point during this five-minute or so speech at a TIME Magazine gala honoring the Univision anchor he says:
In any other country, with a little bit of rule of law, the president would have been forced to resign. Guess what?
Much has been written this week about the precipitous downfall of Venezuelan TV host Rodner Figueroa, who was fired from his high-paying job in Univision after making an inexcusable, racist comment about Michelle Obama live, during the superpopular daytime show El gordo y la flaca. More specifically – without mincing words – Figueroa compared the First Lady to someone from the cast of the Planet of the Apes movie.
‘Querida enemiga’ features two Scandinavian-looking Mexican chefs
Sure, Figueroa said something horrible. Yes, Univision did the right thing by reacting quickly and firing him “immediately” barely hours after he made the now infamous commentary.
But what many fail to see is that “The Figueroa Affair” is by no means new, nor shocking, at least for those of us who intimately know the ugly inners of Latin American – and U.S. Hispanic – media. As anthropologist Arlene Dávila wrote recently: “Sadly these types of comments are very common in Univision, and rarely regulated.”
While this is indeed true, is by no means limited to Univision. Take any television show in the U.S. (Univision, Telemundo, Azteca America, MundoFox;) Peru (SurPerú;) Mexico (Televisa, TV Azteca;) Venezuela, Colombia, etc. and you’ll see what I mean.
I grew up in Mexico City, and was always intrigued (not really shocked back then) to see that people on TV didn’t look at all like most people I saw on a daily basis. I mean, even the maids were all like, well-coiffed, blond actresses!
Can you spot the Latinos and non-Latinos? HINT: They are all Latinos
I dare you find a Black actor or actress (yes, there are Black people in Latin America;) an Indigenous Mexican (oh, yes, we have plenty) unless – of course – they are shown as objects of ridicule.
Want more? Take this promotional spot from Mexico’s media giant Grupo Televisa pretty much portraying Africans as a bunch of savages. Oh, did I mention Televisa is Univision’s partner, co-owner and provider of content?
See? Per the above examples, Africans (i.e. blacks) are savages, and Indians are pretty much non-existing. Thus, it was only natural that a local residencial developer in El Salvador this year used a light-skinned, blond family of three to pitch its “super affordable low-cost housing,” even though only a 0.1 percent of the population of El Salvador looks like these three.
Sure, pummeling Rodner Figueroa as if he were a Kim Kardashian piñata might feel like a good thing to do right now: It will make us feel great about ourselves as defenders of a racism-free world.
Just don’t forget: He is not the isolated racist weirdo they might have you believe in this wonderful universe that came to be known as Hispanic Media.
You might dismiss Don Francisco as your abuela television icon, but his star power seems to be at its highest (and his energy certainly surpasses that of the “other aged Cuban“). Proof of this is tomorrow’s show, which will feature none other than Michelle Obama herself.
Alas, the U.S. First Lady will be discussing post-secondary education and the financial support available to students who complete the FAFSA, among other ‘unexciting’ things.
Per a Univision press release:
Appearing as part of her Reach Higher initiative, the First Lady will share her own story of pursuing and financing her higher education, and will join Secretary Duncan in encouraging Hispanic students to apply for the financial aid available to them.
Is it too much to ask Don Francisco to have FLOTUS engage in some of Sábado Gigante’s more fun stuff like the Miss Colita Pageant or at least the Mamacita one?
Univision, please? I promise to watch and keep my sarcastic comments to myself –or not.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must have noticed that everybody and their abuela have -for some reason- taken an unusual interest in fighting ALS by challenging one another to take the Ice Bucket Challenge, dumping a bucket of ice water on their heads.
Ok, so fine. Everybody wants their 30 seconds of fame while pretending to care about a noble cause. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but the Ice Bucket craziness has gotten so out of control, that Univision has jumped on it; not to donate to ALS, but to its own cause: the Televisa/Univision sanctioned TeletonUSA, an annual 24-plus-hour TV and radio broadcast to raise money for children’s rehabilitation centers.
Per an Aug. 21, 2014 tweet by Univision Sports anchor Félix Fernández, a donation of US$200 was deposited to the account of the Alcancía Digital (aka as the official account of TeletonUSA) upon taking the now famed Ice Bucket Challenge live, on camera and narrated by none other than Univision’s own Perro Bermúdez. [Watch the video here]
Here’s the original tweet by Univision Sports commentator Felix Fernández touting the deposit upon taking the Challenge,making it very clear that the funds were not deposited to ALS but to TeletonUSA.
I guess at this point everyone is entitled to dump cold water on their head and support whatever the hell they feel like supporting. I, for one, will take a freezing shower right now, just to clear my head from so much Internet silliness.
Aleyda Ortiz [center] on Sunday was crowned Univision’s 8th Nuestra Belleza Latina, a title I’m sure comes with tons of responsibilities but also many perks, including cash prizes and jumping into a hot tub with a 50-plus married Cuban-American man: Univision star Raúl “El Gordo” de Molina.
I’m sure many more successes await the Puerto Rican beauty. ¡Qué viva la boricua, pues!
Looks like Univision decided NOT to listen to me, so it went ahead to launch Flama, an English-language video channel, which according to ADWEEK, has “an eye on Hispanics between ages 15 and 30,” (aka Hispanic millennials.)
The channel, which is being sponsored by condom maker Trojan and Big Mac maker McDonald’s, features videos on comedy, music, lifestyle and sports.
The following video -inexplicably tagged as comedy- is a 4-minute-plus rant about what non-Latinos should expect from dating a Latina. And no, you don’t have to spend 4:09 minutes of your life watching it.
I watched it entirely, so you don’t have to and here’s the gist of it:
Latinas are crazy
Dating a Latina will make you fat (even if they cook with Mazola)
We love to cook tamales and pozole and quesadillas
If you are going to be in a relationship with a Latina, you should consider joining Weight Watchers
We [Latinas] are clingy
We are like your probation officer but with sex -and frijoles
Or, you can watch… But don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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
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?
The 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.
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!
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