Does Hispanic Media Truly Represent Hispanics?

When I moved from Puerto Rico to New York City, the first thing I had to do was buy a brand-new wardrobe since all I had were summer clothes. What was more difficult than just changing my outerwear, however, was changing my sense of who I was – or at least understand how others saw me.

It was somewhat of a shock to me when I realized that Latin Americans, Hispanics or Latinos seem to be considered a separate “race”.

I must admit, I was almost relieved to see that those in charge of grouping us as Hispanics didn’t further subdivide us into black, white or brown. After all, from many Americans’ perspective, we Hispanics are neither here nor there, are we?

In practically every country in Latin America, one can find natives with looks that defy all of the stereotypes: there are blonde, blue-eyed, Nordic types; curly-haired, curvy, short individuals with brown skin; and tall, very dark-skinned people with African feature – as well as individuals with any combination of the above characteristics.

Most of us in Latin America are so used to this eclectic melting pot that when asked questions about our race, many must hesitate to find the “right” answer. It’s not that we don’t know who we are, but more that others don’t know how to categorize us.

It is normal for people to understand their world and the people in it by putting them in nice little neat boxes with labels on them, but the reality is that there are so many types of Hispanics that it is a practically impossible task for advertisers and the media to represent Hispanics without leaving out entire sub-segments of this demographic. What is disconcerting, however, is how frequently the media represents Hispanics solely as one type – that of a tanned skin, Mediterranean-looking individual.

At least half of the Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans (the three largest Hispanic groups in the US) that live in the United States today are dark-skinned. There are different shades of “dark”, though.

In Mexico, the native population was much larger relative to the number of Spanish invaders, which enabled the native physical features to survive through future generations.

In the Caribbean, on the other hand, the Europeans mixed with the native islanders and later with a large population of African slaves to create a much greater variety of physical characteristics.

There are more than 40 million Hispanics in the United States. The number of Hispanics recently surpassed that of African Americans, making them the largest minority group in the country. Perhaps more important than just the sheer number of Hispanics is their impressive economic influence.

Many are shocked to discover that Hispanics have more than $600 billion in purchasing power. But it’s not just a lot of Hispanics, each with a little bit of money. As with the mainstream populations, Hispanics range from highly educated, wealthy, sophisticated consumers to the lower class, blue-collar and everything in between.

Despite this diversity, the Hispanic media insists on using an image that is not representatives of most Hispanics in this country. Moreover, many advertising agencies seem to be reinforcing limiting ideas to corporate clients who are also more comfortable with the image of light skinned, Mediterranean-looking, sexy (yet virginal), housewives and their blue-collar husband.

What about the rest of the Hispanic population? What about the not-so-light, immigrant workers or the white-collar, bilingual Hispanics who may not watch Spanish TV because the programming doesn’t appeal to them but is not reached through English media either?

The Hispanic media may acknowledge this misrepresentation behind closed doors but have yet to take any significant action. After all, aren’t they the experts in Hispanic culture, heritage and language? Or are they exploiting this culture and heritage for commercial reasons only?

In either case, it is time that all of us wake up and smell the "café con leche".

The U.S. advertising industry is famous around the world for its ability to re-educate consumers into thinking that they want or need to have a particular product or service.

My message to the media and the advertising/marketing industries today is: Educate Hispanics also into wanting, needing and having your products.

If you convince a consumer that they want to go to college, graduate, buy a couple of suits, ties, suitcase, computer, that he/she needs to get the best job they can get, they will. This consumer will then have even more means and sophistication to buy a luxury item, car, go on vacation, etc.

Hispanics are ready to be educated, ready to better their lives and their children’s lives. And they are ready to buy your product, if you speak to them in a very intelligent, natural way.

In layman’s term: re-condition your potential consumer; brainwash them if necessary. Isn’t this what the American marketing industry does best?

If advertisers think Hispanics are not educated enough, not sophisticated enough to buy certain products and services then re-condition them into wanting more than what they think they want now.

Another mistake that many advertisers seem to make is that they try too hard to figure out the Hispanic mindset. In so many ways, Hispanics are similar to the average U.S. mainstream consumer.

They care about their families; they can be deeply religious; they have different levels of education and yet they all want a better life for their children.

Hence the one thing marketers and their clients are missing from the equation is representation. How can they expect Hispanics to buy their products and services if the advertising in no way represents the diversity of Hispanics?

It matters very little that your focus groups or marketing studies say that Hispanics like family-oriented, conservative, brand-loyal advertising.

If you do not represent Hispanics exactly as they are or at least as we aspire to be, you will not sell to them.