Posts Tagged ‘spanish’
Gay Latino Fashion?
5:17 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Fashion|GLBT|Internet · 1 Comment
9 Dec 2005
I came across this by chance as a result of a Google AdSense ad for the keyword “Latino”. MarcaEres, which looks to me to be a pretty small company, got my attention because I don’t think anyone else in the U.S. (I’m assuming they are in the U.S. as the site is in English) is doing t-shirts and accessories for the gay Latino market.
It makes sense. Here in San Francisco, in the Castro District, you see lots of t-shirts with gay themes and clever comments on them (granted, only gay tourists buy and wear these), but I’ve never seen one in Spanish.
Nuyorker: a new blog en español
1:34 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Blogs|Internet|New York City · 1 Comment
7 Dec 2005
My friend Oso tipped me to Nuyorker, a new blog that just launched that’s all about NYC, in Spanish. I must say it immediately got my attention because the first post I read was about rapper 50 Cent’s entrepreneurial endeavors — apparently he is promoting his own line of vibrators:
El hip hopero y actor de cine 50 cent va a sacar una linea de “sex toys”. El articulo estrella es una version de 50 cent motorizado con un vibrador igualito a su miembro viril, pero azul (salvo que 50 lo tenga realmente azul) “para que todas las chicas puedan experienciar lo que es tener sexo con 50″.
Movie Business Caters to Spanish Speakers
11:09 am By Maegan La Mala · business|Entrepreneurs|language · Comments Off
2 Dec 2005
Businesses are always looking for ways to get you to spend your money on their products. A company based out of Denver is doing its part to provide entertainment to Spanish speaking Latinos by presenting newly released films with options that will meet the needs of Spanish speakers, such as subtitles.
I remember as a child my parents taking me to the movie theatre and I knew that they didn’t understand a word the actors or cartoons were saying but yet they continued to take me. After I grew older my parents stopped going to the movie theatre. They no longer had a child to take and what was the purpose anyways if they didn’t understand the language.
I think that this company’s business plan is a great idea. Now, instead of having to wait for the movie to come out on DVD with Spanish options, Spanish speakers can watch films as soon as they hit the movie theatres.
…Many of these Hispanics are movie buffs — going to the cinema an average of 12.1 times a year compared with Anglos visiting theaters 9.4 times a year and African Americans buying movie tickets 6.6 times a year, according to 2004 data from the Motion Picture Association of America.
Via / Houston Chronicle
If you love it so much, why don’t you marry it?
5:51 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bilingualism|Politics|TV · 5 Comments
17 Nov 2005
As a follow-up to Rebecca’s post on Florida state senator Leslie Miller’s proposal to teach children Spanish in school from grades K-2, I wanted to comment on an exchange I witnessed between Senator Miller and (shiver) Tucker Carlson on the latter’s cable television show which left me despising Carlson even more. Not just because he’s a Republican but because he came off as a childish idiot. In response to Miller’s question of why we shouldn’t start teaching kids Spanish early and let them decide later if they want to continue:
CARLSON: Well, I’ll tell you why. Look, it sounds like you’re open to voluntary solution, which is certainly better than the compulsory one. But there are a lot of things you’d like your kids to know. You know, you’d love to learn them—how to learn to play the xylophone, or the accordion, or speak Esperanto or, you know, learn a lot about Finland.
He’s comparing learning Spanish, regarded by most as second most important language in the world to Esperanto and the xylophone. (He also said “learn them”. Jeez.)
Betty Crocker goes bilingual
5:15 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bilingualism|Food|Marketing · Comments Off
10 Nov 2005
Betty gets sabrosa:
Betty Crocker may be the first lady of the American kitchen, but will she succeed as la gran dama de la cocina latina?
General Mills, the brand’s owner, and John Wiley and Sons, its exclusive book publisher, are betting she will.
In August they published Cocina Betty Crocker: Favorite American Recipes in Spanish and English. The book prints traditional American recipes such as apple pie and sloppy Joes side by side in the two languages. Next to instructions for Macaroni and Cheese, are directions for Macarrones con Queso.
No Spanish at work at all
8:05 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bilingualism|business|Politics · Comments Off
10 Nov 2005
The subject of company bans on the use of Spanish among employees has been getting a lot of pickup in the press lately. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Sephora (a favorite store of mine) was one of the first in a wave of businesses accused of imposing “English Only” rules:
Hispanic employees at a Sephora store in New York say their ability to speak Spanish was crucial when they were selling lipstick and eye shadow to well-heeled Chilean and Argentine tourists. But they say that if they uttered any Spanish to each other, even in the lunch room, they were reprimanded by managers.
Are employees filing more claims these days, or are employers becoming increasingly less tolerant of employees speaking their language in the workplace? Are we moving forward with regard to standing up for our rights or are this country’s workplaces beginning to mimic the conservative climate of the nation itself?
Shame on Sephora. And shame on any other business that tries to marginalize its employees because of the language they speak.
Via / Post-Gazette.com and Hispanic Tips
Latin Grammys: Spanish made the difference
6:02 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · language|Marketing|Music|TV · Comments Off
9 Nov 2005
In a recent post, I pondered what marketing minds thought it would be best to air the Latin Grammys on CBS and in English, when the target market (and the participants) is made up of mostly Spanish (or bilingual) speakers. According to the Washington Post, the decision to change that made all the difference in the world:
Off CBS and on Univision, the sixth annual Latin Grammy Awards erupted, attracting an average audience of more than 5 million viewers — nearly 2 million better than last year’s CBS telecast. In fact, Thursday’s show outperformed all but the first Latin Grammys’ broadcast on CBS (which snagged 7.5 million viewers). Univision tied Fox and beat UPN and WB for the night.
This goes to show that pushing Latino music, in its myriad forms, on a mainstream audience because a few pop artists have really taken off is a bad idea. You don’t neglect your base (and their language preferences) in an attempt to cater to what seems to be a more lucrative market. Glad to see that the Latin Grammys are Latino again.
Via / The Washington Post and Hispanic Tips
Kids Might Learn Spanish the Easy Way
3:43 pm By Maegan La Mala · Bilingualism|children|Education|Florida · 1 Comment
4 Nov 2005
Florida Senator Les Miller has proposed a bill that would require all students in the state from grades K – 2 have mandatory Spanish lessons starting in 2007.
First of all, I think this is a great idea. The article goes on to outline that the bill doesn’t really show where the money or the teachers would come from – that the idea is cool, but no one is sure how to implement it.
Once Again, Are We Speaking the Same Language?
11:32 am By Maegan La Mala · Bilingualism|Magazines|Marketing · 1 Comment
3 Nov 2005
As I was sitting in the doctor’s office yesterday, I picked up a magazine and conducted a quick research study – I guess that’s what happens when you make me wait so long!
The magazine was Latina, and something interesting popped out at me right away. The magazine is written in English – which gives me an idea right away that they must be targeting Latinos born in the US, who often are more comfortable with English than Spanish. So why are so many of the ads in Spanish?
Since I had the time, I counted them. I counted 78 ads overall: 51% were in Spanish, 42% in English, and the rest basically didn’t have any ad copy. Over half of the ads are in Spanish in a magazine that is written in English.
My assessment: This is an issue that we’ve discussed here at VL, from various angles, most recently with La Mala’s post, Aqui We No Watch Espanish. I think these companies say, “Hey, a Latino publication – stick our Latino ads in there. Hmm, but our Latino ads are in Spanish, and Latina is a magazine written in English. Oh well, it’s all the same anyway, isn’t it?”
Maybe there is some strategy out there that I don’t know about. Some detailed market research that would explain this. But my guess is that there is not. What advertising & marketing people are probably beginning to figure out is that the term Latino is very broad, and depending on which market segment they are after, the strategy is going to have to change.
A novel idea: Latin Grammys in Spanish
12:36 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Entertainment|Music|TV · Comments Off
2 Nov 2005
This year, the Latin Grammy people are trying something new. The awards show honoring the best in Latin music (for the most part in Spanish) have decided to…broadcast in Spanish!
Attributing low ratings in past years to the fact that the awards were directed towards English speakers, they’re officially switching the format to all español for this Thursday’s broadcast. No longer on mainstream network CBS, the awards are moving over to Spanish-language Univision. God, these people are smart.
Hola!
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