Images: Producing Culture for the Market - Study Notes

The Role and Impact of Stereotypes in Hispanic Marketing

• The "Yo No Soy Un Estereotipo" Campaign:     * An advertisement published in major magazines such as Hispanic Business, Latina, and People en Español for the Ford Motor Company.     * The ad features a narrative voice stating: "What I eat is not a clear indication of who I am… I am not a stereotype. I love my family. Have values. Like rhythm. Have faith. But don’t categorize me…"     * Visual Juxtaposition: The ad features a brunette woman in her $40s$ in contemporary clothing alongside images of a pizza, a hamburger, palm trees, two teenagers (presumably her children), and three Ford luxury cars.     * Marketing Strategy: The ad aims to resolve the contradiction between a woman who holds traditional values and her ability to afford luxury items and enjoy "All-American" food like hamburgers.
• The Industry's Dual Role:     * Hispanic marketing staff position themselves as "politically correct" voices intended to educate corporate clients and challenge stereotypes.     * However, the industry simultaneously draws from and reinforces existing stereotypes to maintain a legitimate "ethnic niche."
• The Mechanics of Stereotyping:     * Simplification vs. Hierarchy: Stereotypes are not problematic simply because they order or simplify information (a necessary part of communication), but because they reflect and engender social hierarchies.     * Theoretical Frameworks: Reference to Hall ($1997$), Dyer ($1993$), Gilman ($1996$), Kanellos ($1998$), and Rodríguez ($1997$).     * Social Distinctions: Stereotypes restrict the range of interpretation to mirror and valorize the social distinctions of the broader society.

The Evolution of the "Hispanic Nation" Construct

• The Nation Within a Nation:     * The term "Hispanic" is a U.S.-generated racial category that places individuals into a "minority" status.     * Hispanic advertising serves as a generator of "positive" images intended to instill pride while appealing to individuals as consumers.
• Regional vs. National Market Evolution:     * Early Regionalism: Initially, campaigns were local. In the East, Puerto Ricans represented the generic Hispanic nation; in the West, Mexicans did.     * Goya Foods Case Study:         * Founded in $1936$ in New York City by a Spanish immigrant.         * Until the $1970s$, Goya focused on "Spanishness" (e.g., olive oil from Andalucia described as "pure, virgin, and Spanish").         * In the mid-$1970s$, after establishing a plant in Puerto Rico, Goya used Puerto Rican personalities like singer Boby Capó and folk music to appeal to the "sabor criollo" (creole taste) of the New York market.     * Advent of National TV Networks:         * Spanish Advertising and Marketing Services (SAMS) was the largest Hispanic agency in the late $1960s$ and $1970s$.         * SAMS acquired national accounts: Colgate Palmolive ($1966$), Bulova watches ($1967$), Lorillard Corporation/Kent/Newport ($1969$), and Libby, Mc Neill, and Libby ($1973$).         * Costly TV production necessitated a move toward a "generic" Hispanic construct that was unidentifiable as any specific nationality.

Family and Tradition as Advertising "Referent Systems"

• The Family Trope:     * The Latin family is the primary "referent system" for transferring and translating meaning to products.     * Assumptions: Marketing assumes Hispanics have lower incomes but larger families, and a higher degree of nostalgia or rootlessness.     * Company Targeting: Proctor & Gamble, AT&T, Sears, McDonald’s, and Johnson & Johnson have historically used the family trope to target Hispanics as an undifferentiated entity.
• Evolution of Family Scenes:     * $1970s$/$1980s$: Traditional kitchen settings. Example: SAMS ad for Fab detergent "When I Came to This Country" featuring a grandmother teaching a child that Fab is a family tradition from "back home."     * $1990s$: Women are shown in business attire or playing sports, and men are occasionally shown in the kitchen (e.g., Goya codfish fritter ready-mix).
• Values and Behavioral Binary (Anglo vs. Hispanic):     * AT&T Auto-redial ($1998$): A "family drama" where a man must ask a father's permission to marry his daughter; reinforces patriarchal norms and the authority of the elderly.     * Nicorette: Unlike the general market (individual achievement), the Hispanic ad "Por tu Bien y el de los Tuyos" stresses quitting for the family. Figure $8$ features a daughter's smile as the incentive.     * ITT Technical Schools ($1997$): Focuses on being a role model for the parents and community rather than purely individual ambition.     * Oil of Olay: Based on the view that Hispanic women beautify themselves to please others (caresses/gentle words) rather than for "selfish, me-oriented" purposes.     * Avon ($1996$-$97$): Appeals to emotion over reason, portraying Hispanic women as more expressive and feminine compared to the "independent professional" image in the general market.     * California Milk Processor Board ("Got Milk?"): The general market uses comedy; the Hispanic market uses a grandmother making milk-based desserts to avoid offending "maternal instincts."

The Pitfalls of "Positive" Images: Budweiser and Castor Advertising

• The "Rebudlución" Campaign ($1996$):     * Designed by Castor Advertising to show Hispanics interacting with Anglos in Anglo settings.     * The "Chile" Ad: Two small, slender Latinos outwit stocky Anglo bikers by eating a habanero pepper, which they call "Mexican candy."     * The "Soccer" Ad: Latinos outwit bulky football players using soccer-style agility.     * The "Alabama" Ad: A Latino turns a hostile "hillbilly" bar into a festive scene by using a Budweiser can as a maraca.
• Analysis of the Binary:     * While intended to be positive, these ads still operate within polarized binaries ($Hall, 1997$).     * They define Hispanic virtue through relation to Anglo mockery.     * Traits like "wit," "rhythm," and "spiciness" feminize Latinos in relation to Anglo masculinity (associated with aggressive sports and "real men").

Nationalism, Ethnic Pride, and the "Latinized" Cowboy

• Nostalgia as a Hook:     * AT&T "Song": Features images of Mexican pyramids and South American train stations to trigger the memory of "where I opened my eyes for the first time."     * Kodak "Patria": Filmed in Puerto Rico but used generic lush, colonial settings to represent a pan-Latin countryside.
• Reclaiming Symbols:     * Cartel Creativo for Wrangler Jeans: The "Viva la Tradición" ad asserts that "the first cowboys in the United States were Mexican Americans" called vaqueros.     * Cartel Creativo for Tecate Beer: An ad shows a Latino topping the Statue of Liberty with a Tecate banner, with the slogan "Tecate llegó para quedarse" (Tecate is here to stay).
• The Commercial Contemporary Latina:     * Miller Beer Anthem Evolution:         * $1985$: Depicted Miller as a new American tradition for immigrants (salsa, baseball, vaqueros).         * $1989$: Sheds references to Miller being "American" and focuses on compadres and specific food (Cuban, Puerto Rican, or Mexican versions).
• The Disappearance of the "Anglo" Authority:     * In the late $1970s$ and early $1980s$, Anglos were often authoritative figures (e.g., Schlitz beer where a Latino saves an Anglo who can't fix a car).     * Modern ads (e.g., Advil "City" or Colgate "Modern Fab") treat the U.S. simply as "the most modern country" where the products are used by Hispanics in a self-referential world.

The Construction of a Generic Aesthetic and Language

• The "Latin Look":     * Casting directors seek a "specific oliveness" to skin, long straight hair, and an "aspirational but representative" appearance.     * The Whitening Trend: Modern ads have become "whiter," moving away from the "dark, mustached, Mexican type" of the early industry to a "Mediterranean" look.     * Comparison to General Market: Agencies often replicate the "P and G look" (Procter & Gamble)—clean-cut and all-American—for the Hispanic market.     * Exclusion: Indigenous and Black faces are rarely shown unless as non-speaking signifiers of "authenticity" (e.g., Andean musicians or tortilla makers).
• "Walter Cronkite Spanish":     * A "standardized," unaccented, universal Spanish intended to avoid regionalisms or malapropisms.     * Reality of the Sociolect: It is often a media register of upper-class Mexican Spanish (specifically chilango from the capital).     * The Pressure to Tone Down Accents: Univision entertainers like Cristina Saralegui and Raymond Arrieta (Lente Loco) faced pressure to reduce Cuban and Puerto Rican accents to sound more "generic."     * Radio's Opposition: Eduardo Caballero argues generic Spanish is a myth that fails to reach the "soul" of the consumer.

Fragmentation and the "Café con Leche" Approach

• Evolution of Customization:     * In the $1980s$, customization was common (e.g., Campbell’s soup served with arroz con pollo for Puerto Ricans and chiles rellenos for Mexicans; Tide laundry detergent using Chapanecas music in the West and manicero in the East).     * Today, customization is largely limited to radio and print due to the high cost of TV.
• The Unified/Hybrid Strategy:     * Goya: Now uses both frijoles and habichuelas in the same ad to cover different dialects.     * Hybrid Cultural Products: Miller beer’s $1999$ ad uses the invented word "salsarengue" to combine salsa and merengue.     * Bud Light: Features comedian John Leguizamo crashing a merengue/hip-hop audition by Proyecto Uno in Tex-Mex gear to show Bud Light as a facilitator of "Latinization."     * Cross-National Pairings: AT&T ($1997$) paired Cuban singer Jon Secada with Mexican soap star Thalia.
• Conclusion on Representation:     * The industry has created a marketable trope of the "good, traditional, patriotic, not-too-dark/not-too-light Latina."     * This excludes the reality of many Latinas trapped in poverty or those who speak Spanglish.     * The Mediterranean Hispanic remains the dominant, unthreatening symbol for mass consumption, leaving racial and ethnic hierarchies largely unchallenged.