THE REPRESENTATION OF LATINAS IN ADVERTISING

The topic of the representation of Latinas in advertising has been discussed in class and I feel is very important to the Hispanic

population as a whole. Advertising is a great way to see how the mainstream culture commonly perceives a certain gender, ethnicity,

and/or age of people. The portrayals of Hispanic women in advertising also help shape self-perception of many Hispanic women. It is also a means of acculturation, as it blends both the Hispanic life

and American life into acceptable cultural norms.

by Naomi Roszhart

3 Ways Hispanic Women are Portrayed in Advertising:

1. Caretakers2.Celebrities

3. Sex Symbols

Hispanic Women as Caretakers in Advertising

• Advertisers understand that many of the purchases for Hispanic households come from the female caretakers in the family. Because of this, many advertisements for household products or family-oriented foods feature a Hispanic woman as the focal point of the advertisement.

• "Finally, among the themes present in the stronger advertising, those that resonated among Hispanic women centered on quality time with family, making intelligent product choices, and aspirations to look young and attractive" (Tindle, 2011).

• Mothers are often pictured very conservatively, as many Hispanics hold to traditional methods of living. "While second and third generation Hispanics are adapting to U.S. culture and customs, they still maintain strong attachment to Latino traditions and value systems" (Steiner, 2012).

Good Example: Tylenol® Give Commercial

(TYLENOLOFFICIAL, 2013)

Good Example: Tylenol Cold Commercial

• Tylenol's "Give" Commercial is an excellent example of good advertising to Latina women. In the commercial, a Latina woman is shown taking care of her child with the focal point of most of the commercial being the happiness of the child.

• Rather than stereotyping the mother as a Hispanic woman, the focus of the commercial was on the child, with the mother's ethnicity being a background concept. The goal was to unite Latina women as mothers rather than as Hispanic women. The end result is a commercial that appeals to a variety of ethnicities simply because of the shared idea of motherhood, rather than focusing only on trying to portray a traditional Hispanic mother role.

Bad Example: Glade Fabric & Air

(Cruz, 2015)

Bad Example: Glade Fabric & Air• Hispanic women want to see more than just a Hispanic woman who does all

the housework and takes care of her family. When placed in this one role, the Hispanic mother only added to the stereotype that a Latina's place is in the home.

• Latinas wanted variety among caretakers and wanted the mom to do more than just housework.

• "Those categories where marketers just tend to reduce the role of mother to be cooking, cleaning, happy, smiling. Even when they try to do it with a Hispanic mom, it still falls on deaf ears" (McMains, 2013).

Hispanic Women Celebrities in Advertising

• Hispanic women are known to spend quite a lot of time and money in search of youth and beauty. Because of this, many beautiful Latina women are made spokespersons for makeup and beauty brands. The brands promote the youth and beauty of their spokesperson and consequently sell their products through them.

• '“The Latina female is very beauty-involved,” Mr. Cleary said. “She has a much higher propensity to spend on our brands”' (Vega, 2011).

Good Example: Eva Longoria for L'Oréal

(Sam, 2010)

Good Example: Eva Longoria for L'Oréal

• This advertisement for L'Oréal's Volume Million Lashes worked well as it focused mainly on the product and how the product accentuated the already beautiful Eva Longoria.

• Eva Longoria works well as a spokesperson because she represents the youth and beauty that many Hispanic women see, or wish to see, in themselves.

• This ad doesn't make her ethnicity a key point in the ad, but rather focuses on the selling point of the product: how thick and defined the mascara makes the user's eyelashes.

Bad Example: Sofia Vergara Firs t Pepsi Commercial

(BaderTV, 2011)

Bad Example: Sofia Vergara for Pepsi

• Sofia Vergara has been a beloved spokesperson for Pepsi ® products for years, but this commercial, actually her first, just doesn't work out well. Her ethnicity plays very little part in this ad, whereas her sexuality and sensuality steal the show in this ad.

• There is also no focus on her identity or who she is apart from her body, which allows viewers little time to relate to her, a key selling point for Hispanic women buyers.

• That being said, this is her first Pepsi ® commercial ever and they have improved quite a lot.

Hispanic Women as Sex Symbols in Advertising

• In much of the advertising featuring Hispanic women, the women are given roles based largely on their attractiveness and sensuality.

• Often these women are simply presented as beautiful damsels in distress. A lovely woman waiting for a man to help her.

• "In addition, in the U.S. ads, female characters tend to receive advice and male characters tend to give it whereas in Mexican ads, female characters receive help and male characters give it" (Gilly, 83).

Good Example: Sofia Vergara for Diet Pepsi

(Bruce Allen Clark, 2013)

Good Example: Sofia Vergara for Diet Pepsi

• This commercial appeals to Hispanic women because it has a natural sex appeal with which they can relate. Sofia Vergara is both sweet and alluring, but not overtly sexual in this advertisement.

• It doesn't go for the stereotype of sexy, fiery Latina, but instead peaceful, classy and beautiful Hispanic woman, which resonates among Latinas of all ages.

• This ad shows her beauty and sex appeal, as well as the sex appeal of the gentleman next to her, without stereotyping them at all or trying to make them fit a type.

Bad Example: Tecate's Cold Latina

(Kell ie, 2010)

Bad Example: Tecate's Cold Latina

• Although this commercial may not immediately scream sex appeal, the concept is quite clear. This billboard plays off of the idea that Latinas are always hot, which, to many people would not seem a bad thing, neglects to focus on anything other than the sex object appeal of Latinas.

• Many people were enraged with this ad, as they felt that it neglected many other facets of Latinas' identities and focused only on the sexual objectification of them and played into the stereotypes of very sexual, sensual Hispanic women.

• "Critics felt “the ad propagates negative stereotypes of Hispanic women as being loose and overly sexual,” but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Family is extremely important to Latinos and any offense to a family member is certainly not appreciated. As a son, husband, brother and father of Latino women I found it offensive that a company would imply that all Hispanic women are 'hot'"(Tornoe, 2007).

The Most Effective Method of Representing Latinas in Advertising:

• In my research, I found that out of the three types of representation of Latinas in advertising: caretakers, celebrities, and sex symbols- using celebrities in commercials had the most universal appeal among the demographic.

• Celebrity endorsement worked the best in this demographic as word of mouth is very influential and having an extremely attractive Hispanic woman speak about her preferences, especially in beauty products, captures the attention of many Latinas in America.

• Celebrities work the best when it comes to advertising because the Latinas relate to Hispanic celebrities as one of them and do not seem to stereotype one particular type of woman but instead offer up a role model among women that females of all ages can look up to and respect.

The End

References• Tindle, T. (2011, October 26). Advertising Strategies for Targeting U.S. Hispanics. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from

https://www.comscore.com/ita/Insights/Blog/Advertising-Strategies-for-Targeting-U.S.-Hispanics• Steiner, L. (2012, March 29). Advertising To Hispanics: The Answer Is In Balancing Language And Cultural Signals. Retrieved

November 2, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/advertising-hispanic-language-culture_n_1385353.html • TYLENOLOFFICIAL. (2015, January 6). TYLENOL ® Cold and Children's TYLENOL ® Give [Video file]. Retrieved November

2, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcubU4epkAo• McMains, A. (2013, October 11). Hey Marketers, Latina Moms Aren't as Conservative as You Think. Retrieved November 8,

2015, from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/hey-marketers-latina-moms-arent-conservative-you-think-153068• Vega, T. (2011, December 8). Marketers, and Media Companies, Set Their Sights on Latin Women. Retrieved November 8, 2015,

from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/business/media/media-companies-set-their-sights-on-latin-women.html?_r=0• Cruz, Doug (2015, August 10). Glade Fabric & Air (2001 Hispanic) [Video file]. Retrieved November 8, 2015 from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzq1Dg4QwUk• (Eva Longoria Photo) Sam, S. (2010, August 15). Eva Longoria: L’Oreal Extra-Volume Collagene Million Lashes.

Retrieved November 20, 2015, from http://www.sassisamblog.com/2010/08/15/loreal-extravolume-collagene-million-lashes/• Gilly, M. C.. (1988). Sex Roles in Advertising: A Comparison of Television Advertisements in Australia, Mexico, and the United

States. Journal of Marketing, 52(2), 83. http://doi.org/10.2307/1251266

References Page 2

• BaderTV. (2011, February 15) Actress Sofia Vergara First Pepsi Commercial. Retrieved November 14, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BznOT28yrH4

• Bruce Allen Clark. (2013, February 25) Diet Pepsi Tv Commercial - Ad Youtube - Sofia Vergara. Retrieved November 14, 2014 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNGWpnJUVjk

• (Cold Latina Photo) Kellie, E. (2010, April 30). RACE IN MEDIA. Retrieved November 14, 2015, from http://ellenkellie.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

• Tornoe, J. (2007, November 12). When bad Hispanic advertising happens to good companies. Retrieved November 14, 2015, from http://learn.latpro.com/bad-hispanic-advertising/