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The Annual I Hate Columbus Day Post

9:30 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing| VivirLatino| history · 1 Comment

12 Oct 2009

The irony isn’t lost on me. Colombus Day, aka Dia de la Raza, aka Dia de Hispanidad, is the anniversary of VivirLatino’s launching so happy four year anniversary to us and to you all of our loyal readers who have been with us through transitions and shifts. I am proud of the site we are becoming. That said, I don’t know if I am getting old or if it has to do with fatigue that I feel from every damn year having to send a note to my older daughter’s teacher about how fucked up their history classes are (although this year has been different), pero I find my tolerance level lowered in terms of my reaction to the holiday.

Let’s just look at the way Columbus Day is marketed by big retailers who make the day about “discovering” great bargains.

I couldn’t find a version the Macy’s commercial that has been running on TV for the past few days but the picture above is related. Just like in the picture, in the TV ad, fairly “white looking” people, including a child, wear “explorer” hats made of newspaper and using old fashioned telescopes to conquer stores.

In my email inbox on Friday, office supply retailer Staples invited me to “Save like it’s 1492″ . Does that mean I just can take over the whole store?

This morning on my local Fox station (surprise) they announced that to celebrate the opening the Rockefeller Center today, there is someone dressed as Columbus handing out Italian flag cookies or some shit like that. I still want to know why so many in the Italian community look to Columbus or choose this day to celebrate their pride?

I’m gonna be on the look out for more Columbus Day marketing. In the meantime hop over here and read an old Columbus Day poem by yours truly.

VivirLatino Goes to Hogwarts: Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince Giveaway!

6 Jul 2009

hp6postersmall We Latinos know a little something about mixed blood and the trouble that brings. Perhaps a little magical training would help?
VivirLatino is lucky enough to offer some of our readers the chance to see special screenings in New York, Miami,
and Los Angeles of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.We also have 2 Harry Potter Mini Posters to give away.

Want to win? Click after the jump to find out how.

Is it “Adios” for MySpace Latino?

4:33 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Internet| Marketing| social networking · Comments Off

2 Jul 2009

About 2 years ago we told you about MySpace’s bid for Latino market share, aptly named “MySpace Latino”. Back then, MySpace was leading the social networking revolution, but fast forward to today, and we find that MySpace “original” is becoming more irrelevant by the minute in the shadow of Facebook. Perhaps that’s why the Latino version of the service might be going the way of the Walkman. GigaOm’s Jennifer Martinez reports:

As MySpace struggles to regain ground it’s lost to Facebook and sort out its revenue woes, executive departures from MySpace Latino, a combination Spanish-English site targeted at U.S.-based Latinos that launched a little over a year ago, indicate it may be on the chopping block. MySpace Latino’s VP of Hispanic sales and strategy, Manny Miravete, has left the company, and the site’s managing director, Victor Kong, has reportedly left as well. The site itself hasn’t been refreshed in over a week amid a wave of layoffs at MySpace’s U.S. and international offices.

I’m not sure how successful the Latino version was, but it’s no loss to me. I never touched it, and I don’t know anyone who did. This is an instance in which the brand didn’t need to niche itself out to appeal to Latinos – it did it just to please advertisers who wanted to target the Latino segment. Disingenuous attempts at catering to an audience are seldom successful, and much less when the main brand is already creaking under the weight of one hefty competitor and a series of dispersed services and sites that have innovated while MySpace has remained asleep at the wheel.

Martínez also reports that an email statement from MySpace says that the site will “remain live and not shut down” and that MySpace Latino is merely “restructuring”. Whatever the case, I won’t be visiting anytime soon.

The phenomenon apparently extends beyond the U.S. Latino operation. Late last month it was reported that MySpace Brazil, Mexico and Argentina would also be shutting down. That was quick.

Via / GigaOm and Salon

Jueves Jugetes : HP Pavilion dv2

7:53 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing| Tech · 1 Comment

2 Jul 2009

dv2_5f00_back_2d00_open_2d00_right Every once and a while VivirLatino gets sent products to try out and review so that we can share the information with our audience in an effort to make you buy something. And every once in a while, if Mala is in the mood, or if it seems like something that could be useful to myself and the VL audience we will. Today, I’m typing from one of HP’s new laptops, the HP Pavilion dv-2 Entertainment Notebook.

Straight from the box, the HP dv2 shiny white exterior could be seen as trying to look like a Mac. The interior black surrounding the Mercury-free 12.1″ diagonal HP BrightView LED display tells you it clearly isn’t, as well as the fact that it runs Windows Vista® Home Premium which as a two year Mac convert, I don’t dislike as much as I thought I would.
Read more…

Miercoles Mixology Featuring Rosangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila

9:41 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing| drink · Comments Off

17 Jun 2009

rosengal Most “hombres” wouldn’t go near pink colored tequila, pero since quizas porque I’m a mujer or maybe I’m just a sucker for free alcohol, I accepted Gran Centenario’s offer to try their new Rosangel tequila infused with hibiscus.

It wasn’t the pink that interested me actually. I’m more of a wine drinker than anything else and if I have to go with something harder I lean towards rum. What had me curious was the addition of the hibiscus. Hisbiscus aka Jamaica. In my immigrant hood, you know it’s summer when the Mexican markets put out their huge jugs of aguas frescas and my favorite is aua de jamaica.

Rosangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila isn’t sweet pero the hibiscus makes it’s flavor smooth. I’m not a huge tequila drinker pero I found that making frozen margaritas with it made me and others happy with the subtle hibiscus sabor.

Rosangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila is clearly being marketed to women who maybe would like to do pink shots or drink a pink cocktail, pero for those of us that stay away from mujer marketed products, the sabor is fuerte enough to join your summer bar.

You can learn more about Rosangel Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila at it’s official site. (It plays music so if you’re at work turn down the volume or put your headphones on)

Shooting Hoops With HP : Contest

9:54 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing| Sports| Tech · 2 Comments

20 May 2009

hp-pavilion-dv2-portatil1 HP has a new laptop out, the HP Pavilion dv2. As part of their promotion of the ultralight and portable new model, HP has teamed up with the NBA to send one person selected at random to see Kevin Garnett and the Celtics play a home game in Boston and an away game in a West Coast city. The package will include VIP tickets, airfare, hotel and great HP gear. You can enter for that contest here. Pero hurry because the contest runs only until the end of the month.

Pero we have something special for VivirLatino readers.

VL has been chosen, along with two dozen other sites, to be eligible for extra prizes. What are the prizes?

10 regulation basketballs, each signed by an active player of the winner’s choosing

2 trips to the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas: includes travel, accommodations and tickets for two – one winner and one site owner (yup so someone from the VL team gets a prize too!)

and there’s more. VL is getting one $50 gift card for use at The NBA Store, which will go one lucky VL reader who enters.

So how can you get in the game?

Enter the HP/NBA Contest Aqui

Come back here and comment with a valid email that you entered the contest.

Vl will choose who gets the $50 NBA Store gift card and all the entries will go into the random drawing with the entrants from the other two dozen blogs for the other prizes.

Please enter by 11:59:59 p.m. PT on May 31, 2009 to be eligible and sorry, this contest is only for peeps in the U.S. (quizas one day we’ll get an international futbol contest going or something).

Good Luck!

No, I Don’t Hate Mexicans on Cinco de Mayo.

5 May 2009

cinco-de-mayo Earlier today, a gringo ex of mine sent me a text message wishing me a happy cinco de Mayo. Hmmm ok. I thanked him and then reminded him that I wasn’t really celebrating because:
A: I’m not Mexican and
B: I’m not a Mexican from Puebla.

See Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day and not even all of Mexico celebrates it, because the holiday commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla.

Let’s make this comparison: most people in the U.S. celebrate 4th of July not the battle of Saratoga.

Pero an article making it’s way around suggests that Cinco de Mayo makes other Latinos hate Mexicans. Porque? Because it’s more proof that the Mexicans are taking over sillies! Cue the reconquista music please:

But for Dagoberto Reyes, a Salvadorian immigrant living in Los Angeles, May 5 is more a reminder of the dominance Mexican culture has in a country that is home to immigrants from many Latin American countries. His prime example: Los Angeles-area public schools.

“Our kids go to this school system, and the school system is more preoccupied with Mexico’s history, and not the rest of Latin America’s, much less El Salvador’s,” said Reyes, director of Casa de la Cultura, a Salvadorian community center. “They came back celebrating Cinco De Mayo. That holiday means nothing to us.”

And the Winner Is……..

8:19 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing| Tech · 1 Comment

21 Apr 2009

att-pantech-matrix-pro-dual-slider-thumb11 I sat last night reading all the wonderful entries to the Pantech Matrix Pro telefono giveaway that asked you how Latinos could best use smartphone technology to raise their political game. Really there were so many great and thoughtful responses that talked about art, activism, and the example of the Obama campaign. I wish I had phones for each of you.

Pero unfortunately, I only have one phone and that will be going to………

Oscar Flores.

What was it about Oscar’s email? I think the way his answer integrated the personal with the political got me. Without getting all up in his business Oscar wrote about moving from a place with nearly zero technology to the U.S. and how smartphone technology could have helped him as he navigated organizing within the racial justice paradigm and other intersections.

A sincere gracias to all who took the time to write thoughtful answers, and a sincere thanks to AT&T, Pantech and BuzzCorps for providing the prize. Stay tuned. VL will have more contests and giveaways.

Last Day to Win an AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro

8:38 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Marketing| Tech · 1 Comment

20 Apr 2009

att-pantech-matrix-pro-dual-slider-thumb1 Today is the last day to win an AT&T Pantech Matrix Pro phone ans $100 AT&T gift card.

Here are the details of the contest. Email us at info@vivirlatino.com, telling us how smartphone technology can help Latinos access and share information to further their political power (and you know I’m not just talking about electoral power). The most interesting (in my humble opinion) answer wins!

So far there are some interesting answers in the VL inbox. Tomorrow morning I will announce the winner.

Good luck!