Apr. 2013

No, no and no. Stop. Niet. Nein. Stay away! Don't even think about it. Leave it to me! I do this for a living, seriously. It's how I pay for my frijoles! Yankee go home!

What do you mean you are already at home because this is your country?
And this is your account? And you are "the brand keeper?" Please don't go there. This is not the moment to choose between "Apocalyptic and integrated," * that's for intellectuals and you have a business to run. This could be the moment for your brand to get in good with almost 50 million Americans by telling them that you recognize and cherish their culture and heritage. And more importantly, their feelings and emotions about their mothers.

What do you need to know to advertise for Mother's Day in the Hispanic market?
OK, this is very important. Stop being lazy! We all know that the "abuelita" is the mother of all mothers but stop using her in every spot because she's also the mother of all Hispanic clichés. By now the Latino lobby in the U.S. Congress **is about to pass legislation against using the "abuelita" in advertising. Besides, if you don't communicate in a creative way and you keep repeating the same use of the same clichés, you're going to lose the young Hispanics and yes, they're the ones that got President Obama re-elected. And you want your brand to get re-elected don't you? Straight to the point, if you're paying for "creative hours" aren't you expecting creative communication?

Are you asking why advertise for Mother's Day to the Hispanic market?
First, you need to remember that Latinos have and will express a more intense relationship with their mothers and as seen from a white-America point of view, this is a more matriarchal culture. That's why on Mother's Day, Hispanics send out more cards than both Christmas and Valentine's Day.

Can you afford not to advertise Mother's Day to the Hispanic Market?
Again, we number 50 million. Everyone has a mother, is a mother, a mother-in-law or even a cousin, sister, aunt, or friend that just became a mother. Here's where it comes in handy to speak Spanish, for instance, Mexicans have this phrase "No tienes madre." It means, "You have no mother" but trust me when I say that this phrase has more than one meaning.

When is Mother's Day in the Hispanic market?
This year it'd be the first Sunday of May or May 10 but it's celebrated throughout the entire week

Is Mother's Day really that different for Latinos?
Yes, you need to understand that mothers in Hispanic households are like the CEOs of the family. Therefore, mom takes care of everyone throughout the year but on that "special" day, everyone takes care of mom.

Some mothers even get breakfast in bed and also get poems written by her kids. Nothing is too kitsch when it comes to your mother! Brunch at IHOP with the entire family. Mexican mañanitas? Followed by presents, flowers, tamales, atole, chilaquiles, fresh fruits, eggs, café de olla and cinnamon coffee. (Depending where the family comes from of course) You need to think that the Cuban postal service has issued a special series of postcards with floral designs and poetry about motherhood. The Cubans! This means that there's no commercial interest there.

Some countries in LATAM have Mother's Day associated with the day of the Virgin (A catholic celebration) and after this recently getting the first Latin American Pope everybody is feeling extra Catholic.

And if you think about Catholics, you think about the new pope and Argentina. Then you'll come to think about the "madres de plaza de mayo." During the dictatorship of the 70s, military death squads kidnapped, tortured and killed 30,000 Argentines. A group of women who have lived through it gather every Thursday wearing their traditional "white head scarves" in front of the Argentinean palace of government asking for their missing sons and daughters. Get it? The same government that was perpetrating an "anticommunist" genocide never dared to touch this group of MOTHERS.

But we don't need to stay strictly traditional these days especially after living in the States for a while (becoming more Americanized). In many Latin families, the mother could possibly be the most tolerated/endured woman of the family, but she's still your MOTHER!

*Apocalittici e integrati, 1964, Umberto Eco.

**Sure there is a Latino lobby in the Congress. I sent them money to make the judges use maracas instead of gavels.