Hispanics Are (Fill In The Blank)

"Hispanics aren't used to taking taxis," says Jose Camacho according to this morning's Denver Post. And Mr. Camacho is ostensibly in a position to know as he is a cab driver for the local Taxi Latino service.  Except that as a sweeping generalization the statement invites doubt and begs several obvious questions.

Why is there a Taxi Latino service geared toward novice Hispanic cab riders? Is Taxi Latino not doing well financially? Are they short of customers?  Is there such a demand for cabs in Denver that non-Hispanics are using Taxi Latino? I don't know. The article doesn't say.

I suspect what Mr. Camacho might possibly be trying to suggest is that there are many immigrants in Denver from the Mexican countryside where there is limited or no taxi service. Hence, their alleged inexperience riding cabs. I do not mean to explain away Mr. Camacho's statement rather I mean to highlight its inherent inaccuracy. 

It  seems to me that Hispanic marketers are overly fond of making very broad statements that carry about as much weight as "Hispanics aren't used to taking taxis." 

The head of multicultural marketing at an automobile manufacturer told me, "Hispanics are very family-oriented." An account director at one of the few remaining Hispanic-owned agencies told me "Hispanics are very aspirational." (I have no idea what aspirational means as it is a made-up word.) I hear variations of these clichés every week as I interview Latino marketing and media executives. 

Hispanic creatives often complain that clients ask them to incorporate vapid images or sounds into advertising meant for Latinos; an abuelita or a family sitting round the dinner table preferably while mariachis play in the background. It seems to me, though, those silly requests are the logical outcome of clients being sold so many platitudes by Hispanic marketing executives.

Basura in, basura out.

Comments

[Jennifer Woodard Maderazo]

RE: your last paragraph...AMEN! Could not have said it better myself. Unfortunately, some creatives are less than creative and it's far easier to succumb to what clients think works than to show people the truth. So we get chile peppers and maracas on print ads and slogans inevitably containing the word "SABROSO!" because "market data" says that works.

Thanks for the plug!