Your one-stop shop for all things Latin/Hispanic/Mexican
Don’t you just love it when marketers go out of their way to cater to our fine Hispanic palate?
Here’s a video of a very cheerful person named Alison teaching us how to give a Latin twist to a regular, non-Latin-twisted Lasagna. The concoction contains frozen chopped spinach, tons of ricotta cheese, chorizo, Philadelphia, shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Yummy!
NOTE: Serve warm. Enjoy. Schedule a doctor’s appointment for a coronary artery disease exam. ASAP.
Hispanic news outlets and bloggers continue to blast RAM’s God Created a Farmer for forgetting to acknowledge what “real farmers” in America are all about. What RAM critics fail to see is that the automaker’s Hispanic campaign actually features a “really real” macho troca-driver; a tough hombre who would do whatever it takes to get ahead, even if that means driving around in a gas guzzler.
Sí, señor. In order to pitch their trocas among the Latino macho in you, RAM has picked none other than the gentle, baby-faced, environmentally friendly Juanes, who is featured driving around a RAM truck for some inexplicable reason.
Really, RAM?!
Really, Juanes?!
This blogger has only one thing to say. Ha ha ha ha. Or -as we say in Spanish- ja ja ja ja.
Taco Bell, the food chain that brought you the Dori-Taco and other inedible stuff, charmed millions -me included- with a hilarious TV spot that broke during last night’s Super Bowl. Created by Deutsch, Viva Young features a group of ‘viejitos’ having a wild night: Getting tattooed, making out in bars, breaking into other people’s swimming pools and driving around recklessly… all this to the tune of a heavy-accented Spanish-language version of Fun’s We Are Young.
Viva Young spot was, by far, this blogger’s favorite from last night’s commercial parade. If only Taco Bell’s food could be as good as their TV spots…
Well, not quite yet. But Estefan Enterprises and the Nederlander Organization today announced a plan “to develop and produce a new Broadway show inspired by the music made famous by Gloria Estefan and her husband musician/producer and entrepreneur Emilio Estefan.”
Per a press release:
“The musical will be set in a way that tells the Estefans’ riveting life story detailing their journey all the way from Cuba to superstardom.”
Details are still sketchy, but this blogger will be very, very interested in seeing how the whole thing turns out. One thing I can tell you for sure: Should the Broadway musical come to fruition, I’m sure Mr. Estefan will produce a kick-ass DVD, which will then be properly included among Emilio Estefan Picks for Target Stores, which -as this blog accurately reported– include tons of Emilio Estefan stuff.
Did you miss this year’s NATPE? Worry no more; this blogger was there and had some very special access to famous gathering of TV producers. The NATPE, Content First (“Primero contentos”) 2013 conference took place this week in Miami, welcoming more than 1,000 attendees, of which “a huge percentage” was either Hispanic or Latin American.
So, without further ado, here are the Ultimate Hispanic Highlights (UHH) of the 3-day gathering, brought to you exclusively by Mi blog es tu blog:
1. The percentage of Spanish-language attendees to this year’s conference was “huge,” said NATPE President and CEO Rod Perth, who doesn’t seem to be very much into hard data.
2. Many non-Hispanic attendees seemed puzzled about why everybody was walking around wearing a name tag with the name “Rosario” printed on it, making introductions and business dealings awkward at times.
3. A San Juan-based company pitching a cooking show from Puerto Rico stuffed its contact information -and informative USB- inside a coffee bag. My laptop smells delicious.
4. A Spain-based company named ERREQUERRE announced the opening of a Miami office… and a very wise decision to undergo a name change very soon.
5. Sierralta Entertainment has produced, and sold, a new TV show called Latin Angels, featuring bikini-clad reporters that look like this. (No chance for me to get a job there.)
6. For some reason I have yet to comprehend, Ecuadoreans are crazy about Korean telenovelas dubbed into Spanish.
7. The folks over at Venevision International handled business from an amazing suite on the 30th floor of the Fountainbleau Hotel (from which they threatened to throw this blogger at some point.)
8. Mojitos -what else?- were the beverage of choice during NATPE’s inaugural bash Sunday night.
9. Univision’s Programming Chief Alberto Ciurana swears there’s great menudo at a Mexican fonda on Calle Ocho and promised to take me there one day. We’ll see.
10. Telemundo’s VP of corporate communications Michelle Albán is the evil twin of La Doctora Polo (in addition to being the Hispanic evil twin of Sandra Bullock)
(NOTE: Alban continued to ethnic profile this blogger by ordering nachos during a luncheon/interview at Eden Roc Hotel)
11. Harris Whitbeck, CEO of Zodiak Latino, hosted a Spanish-language panel, leaving many gringos in the room scratching their heads upon learning Whitbeck is white AND Guatemalan. [Yes, we have güeritos there too. Now you know.]
12. Catherine Fulop and Fernando Carrillo are back together! They “star” in a yet-to-be-produced telenovela (La Magia del Amor) which will in fact star two young kids who are neither Fulop nor Carrillo. The reason? They do NOT look like this anymore.
13. Telenovelas continue to dominate the market; though reality series featuring boys and girls who text all the time (i.e. Gossip Girls Acapulco) seem to be taking off.
14. Christy Haubegger, funny as hell as she usually is, was actually serious when she stated at a panel that: “It’s exciting to see that we’re moving from Spanish-language programming to programming to Hispanics.”
15. I sat next to Juan Soler at a Telemundo luncheon and failed miserably in my attempt to pinch his butt.
16. I saw Soler once again Tuesday night and while I was not yet able to accomplish my pinching goal, he graciously agreed to pose for a photograph. (Thanks, Veronica!)
17. A short visit to the Univision headquarters gave this blogger a first-row seat to a live airing of El Gordo y la Flaca. Alas, Raúl de Molina declined to go into the jacuzzi with me pretending he had a broken foot or something.
18. Rodner Figueroa showed up and gave me a peace sign.
19. Overall, media companies and media outlets have gotten pretty good at writing “Colombia” and not “Columbia” when talking about the South American country.
20. “Content First” is English for “Primero contentos.”
BONUS CONTENT: Watch 9:33 minutes of La Magia del Amor below:
Have you had it with your regular French cologne? Do you ever wish you smelled like a rich, meaty tamal?
Worry no more! Puerto Rican expert perfumer Zorayda Ortiz has concocted a tamale [sic] fragrance, which, she says…
…Will make you smell exactly like the meaty tamales you grew up eating in abuelita’s kitchen.
Ortiz says that she came up with such a delicious fragrance by blending “notes of red chili pepper and ginger with drops of pineapple, Indian sandalwood and vanilla essential oils.” I don’t know about Puerto Ricans, but the tamales I grew up around [in my abuela’s kitchen, of course] smelled of chile poblano, mole oaxaqueño, beans and salsa morita, which by they way is something I’m not particularly looking forward to smell like.
In any case, perhaps Ms. Ortiz will tweak her recipe a bit to please this tamal-starved, stinky Mexican?
Based on my most recent trip to the island -where I spent a couple of weeks doing absolutely nothing language research- I realized Cubans are increasingly translating their restaurant menus, street signs and monument guides to cater to an ever-growing tourist industry.
One thing I couldn’t be 100% sure, though, is what the ‘Cuban’ word for appetizer was. While a paladar in Havana offered me a very limited variety of “incomings,” including 20 pieces of olives…
… Melaíto, a snack bar in Pinar del Río promised a more extended list of “entrances,” including “boilet greens” and “French Fried.”
Either way, I’m not happy to report that everything pretty much sucked. Cuba is gorgeous and its people are simply the best. Its food… well, that’s another story.
Photos: Laura Martínez, Cuba 2013
It’s only one day before inauguration, and if this pair is to meet again at such historical event, they’d better hurry and take a crash course of salsa dancing.
They can also go for a Groupon discout here.
[This blogger is even willing to foot part of the bill, so don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll be happy to arrange something for you guys]
Video: Blatantly stolen from ABC/Univision
Remember Toyota’s ‘Avanza Confiado’ tagline for the U.S. Hispanic market? Well, it seems the automaker hasn’t used it for a while, hopefully apparently because 1) It sounds awful and/or 2) They found a better copywriter.
Either way, that doesn’t seem to bother this Chevrolet owner in Viñales, Cuba, who was proudly driving around in a 1950’s Chevrolet which -by the way- seemed to avanzar lento, pero con mucha confianza.
Photos: Laura Martínez. Valle de Viñales, Cuba 2013
Cubans might not have access to Coca-Cola, but who cares when you can enjoy a refreshing beverage called TuKola?
I am sure my advertising and marketing peeps will help me come up with a great tagline for this awesome product. Here´s what my brother came up with:
“Si quieres refrescar algo… que sea TuKola”
Photo: Laura Martínez (Havana, 2013)
Who said Latin American poetry and health warnings don’t go hand in hand?
Photo: Laura Martínez. 2013
Todo se copian… ¡chingao!
The owners of this private condo in Ixtapa, Mexico surely don’t want people like me hanging around their property.
Oh, well.
Hat tip: Bego Lozano
MI BLOG ES TU BLOG 