World Series Commercial.....no habla ingles?

[Studio20]

Just tuned in to the World Series on FOX for the first time this year.....9:21 PM, they aired a Chevrolet commercial...totally in Spanish...with ...Spanish captioning.

Now, the NFL is running bilingual spots featuring All Pro Tight End Tony Gonzalez in an attempt to get the Hispanic kids to grow a set rather than kick em into a net....but....I'm not sure I'm ready to have commericals in a language other than English. Comprende Chevrolet?

 

[zumahans]

Then get ready. It's a big world, don't be scared.

 

[hootmon]

With ratings in decline for baseball in particular, advertisers will cater to anyone who is watching. I have heard the World Series draws huge numbers in Latin American and Mexican communities.

 

[Riley_dfwm]

The knee-jerk is to call this PC, but in fact it is good business. Make yourselves appealing to a huge clientele. Bilingual signs in the store, Spanish-speaking employees- all practical business strategies.

Chevy just trying to seel their vehicles to a new audience. It's a risk to possibly alienate another demo but I suspect they considered that

 

[raccoonradio]

"This is America--why do I need to press 1 for English?"--sign on a restaurant nr Pittsburgh (well known place
for outspoken signs!)

http://casadice.com/signs/images/outside_sign002.jpg

http://casadice.com/signs/images/outside_sign015.jpg

Well, Chevy, here's one for you. You once sold a car called a Nova. It didn't sell well in Spanish-speaking countries, mainly because "no va" means "it doesn't work" in Spanish...

Red Sox Radio Network has run ads for Foxwoods casino with the "Wonder of it all" jingle sung in Spanish. It could be "appealing to
Spanish speakers" or "let's grab the attention of people". That being said, I support English as our main
language and if you wanna speak a different one, fine, but if you want my business please speak English to
me as no habla espanol muy bien. Gracias.

 

[KML0224]

Are all those messages real? I just went through the others and this guy sure sounds racist!

 

[KeithE4]

With ratings in decline for baseball in particular, advertisers will cater to anyone who is watching. I have heard the World Series draws huge numbers in Latin American and Mexican communities.

Then Fox should either use the SAP for Spanish-language broadcasts of the games (if they aren't doing so already - I haven't checked), or sign a deal with Univision or Telemundo and air the games in Spanish over one of those networks.

Granted, Fox, MLB, and General Motors are private enterprises and they can broadcast how they please within FCC rules, but I do think they're shooting themselves in the foot with Spanish-language ads on an English-language network.

 

[zumahans]

We've seen the future, and it's multilingual. Whining about how it used to be is (a) not going to change anything, and (b) is narrowminded.

 

[Studio20]

ok..if the world is becoming multilingual...why arent Telemundo and the other spanish networks providing their commericals or programming in English? Their captioning is spanish only as well. I wouldn't mind watching their programming, if it provided an English translation....


Theres no "racism" here...thats the easy card that lazy, uneducated people play when they cannot come up with an answer to a legitimate question.

 

[ajhenderson]

You don't realize that anyone that disagrees with Hans' bitter, ultra-liberal diatribes is "narrowminded".

 

[zumahans]

ok..if the world is becoming multilingual...why arent Telemundo and the other spanish networks providing their commericals or programming in English? Their captioning is spanish only as well. I wouldn't mind watching their programming, if it provided an English translation....


Theres no "racism" here...thats the easy card that lazy, uneducated people play when they cannot come up with an answer to a legitimate question.

Good point, but some commercials on Telemundo are in English.

 

[zumahans]

You don't realize that anyone that disagrees with Hans' bitter, ultra-liberal diatribes is "narrowminded".

In your case, yes, you are narrowminded.

I'm very middle of the road on this. Look at the fights I pick with David Gleason about Univision and cultural assimilation. I think everyone in the USA should speak English.

That said, I can hardly be called ultra-liberal for advocating that English speakers get familiar with a second language!

 

[Ultimajock]

ok..if the world is becoming multilingual...why arent Telemundo and the other spanish networks providing their commericals or programming in English? Their captioning is spanish only as well. I wouldn't mind watching their programming, if it provided an English translation....


Theres no "racism" here...thats the easy card that lazy, uneducated people play when they cannot come up with an answer to a legitimate question.

Good point, but some commercials on Telemundo are in English.

...as a matter of fact, there was a time back around '01 when I was glued to Galavision on Tuesday nights. One was because of the Lucha Libre block up until 9:00 Central. Well, I guess there's a situation where English isn't necessary to enjoy the program (although I still want to know what that CMLL triangle storyline involving Emilio Charles Jnr., Shocker and that skankish-looking female fan of Emilio's was all about). Then at 9:00, they went into "Que Locos!," a stand-up comedy show with mainly Latino comics, but presented entirely in English. If they had provided closed-captioning in English, I'd have stuck around for a lot more than just those two items...

 

[oldschooltv]

I wish the media would stop selling these rediculous ideas, and that people would stop buying them.

The fact is that there are many first and second generation Americans of Hispanic background who cannot put together a proper sentence in Spanish, let alone those who cannot speak it at all.

Inevitably, the population will start to assimilate - it's already happening now. Yes, more Spanish speakers keep coming, but they too will eventually assimilate.

I'm tired of hearing the media and every public action group saying we have to speak Spanish, we all have to learn Spanish. Twenty years ago, Spanish was going to be the second official language.... and I'm still waiting.

Yes, Hispanics are paying their debt to society, and working their butts off to feed their families, and are earning their place in the American fabric. I give them all the credit in the world for some of the conditions they work under.

So it's not the end of the world if someone is creative enough to put a Spanish language ad on TV - the market is there! It would have been done in Irish (Gaelic), Polish, Yiddish, or Italian 70 years ago if the media was available. Since there was no TV in the 1920s, they used the newspaper instead, and they still have Polish and Italian newspapers printed to this day!

I don't know why the media has to divide everyone today. They preach this stuff to the conservatives (the minorities are taking over the world and they're coming after white picket fence Middle America). And then they preach to the liberals that everyone in Middle America is racist, anti-immigration, and monoglots. The sad thing is that people on both sides are buying it!

This really is not a big deal in the whole scheme of things going on in the world. America is not going to be destroyed, Mexico is not trying to take back the southwest, and Hispanics are not on a mission to colonize the United States. This is all the natural progression of things... economics, immigration, etc. Hopefully in 30 years, we could all get along together as Americans, instead of dividing ourselves by language, ethnicity, religion, and race.

 

[hootmon]

I don't know why the media has to divide everyone today. They preach this stuff to the conservatives (the minorities are taking over the world and they're coming after white picket fence Middle America). And then they preach to the liberals that everyone in Middle America is racist, anti-immigration, and monoglots. The sad thing is that people on both sides are buyin

Speaking of playing both sides....have you noticed the other big Chevy buy is John Cougar singing "This Is Our Country"? Take your pick: if you're down-home, family-loving, hard-workin' American--Buy a Chevy. If you're a Spanish speaking immigrant (legal or illegal)--Buy a Chevy instead.
Never underestimate the evil genius of the ad industry.

 

[BRNout]

We've seen the future, and it's multilingual. Whining about how it used to be is (a) not going to change anything, and (b) is narrowminded.

Well Hans, perhaps you can go to Mexico City or Veracruz and see just far English gets you. Try to buy a house using English, or get medical care, or order dinner. Or, try and deal with the national telephone companies. Hay un opcion como: "imprime dos para Ingles"? NO.

Perhaps the Mexicans are 'narrowminded' too, then. As are Venezuelans, Columbians, Chileans, Guatemalans, and (lest we forget) Quebecers. Personally, I think they are all smarter than we are when it comes to preserving their repective cultures. Too many of us here in the USA don't value ours.

If Chevy wants to reach a latino audience, they should run ads on La Fea Mas Bella. And, I haven't seen any. To run them on English speaking channels, during a showing of our national pastime, is offensive.

 

[zumahans]

---->Well Hans, perhaps you can go to Mexico City or Veracruz and see just far English gets you.

This is a joke, right? Half the country speaks English.

----->Try to buy a house using English, or get medical care, or order dinner.

There are dozens of English-speaking realtor-types in afreas where Americans buy houses. Medical care or dinner? Have you ever been to Mexico?


----> Or, try and deal with the national telephone companies. Hay un opcion como: "imprime dos para Ingles"? NO.

So go to the cellphone Kiosk where the 17-year-old English-speaking kid would be delighted to sell you a phone.

Of course, not every segment of mexican (or quebecois) society is openminded, or English-speaking. Surely, there are backwards segments in Mexico too.

 

[Morgan Wick]

How's My Network TV doing with Hispanic audiences, compared to the source material on Univision etc.? (ducks)

 

[ixnay]

FWIW I prefer "Lay's - vamos, sonrie" (heard by so far only on Univision) than "Lay's - get your smile on". I just like the melody better.

ixnay

 

[BRNout]

---->Well Hans, perhaps you can go to Mexico City or Veracruz and see just far English gets you.

This is a joke, right? Half the country speaks English.

----->Try to buy a house using English, or get medical care, or order dinner.

There are dozens of English-speaking realtor-types in afreas where Americans buy houses. Medical care or dinner? Have you ever been to Mexico?


----> Or, try and deal with the national telephone companies. Hay un opcion como: "imprime dos para Ingles"? NO.

So go to the cellphone Kiosk where the 17-year-old English-speaking kid would be delighted to sell you a phone.

Of course, not every segment of mexican (or quebecois) society is openminded, or English-speaking. Surely, there are backwards segments in Mexico too.

The above is only true if you limit yourself to the more expensive enclaves of these places - or to tourist destinations. If you actually deal with the 90+% of Mexico that has little education, you'll find that everything is in Spanish. Try doing anything related with government and you'll find that they only do business in Spanish. They are smart enough not to pander.

Y si, yo fui a Mexico. Muchas veces. Tienes otras preguntas?