Spanish language ad on regular TV

[one...two...tree 2,762]

We had TV ads in Spanish back in Arizona for a long as I can remember, and I've seen them here in CA as well.

[almaty 19]

I think the spanish ads are better on galavision and telemundo..at least, they have better ####### jobs

[SuperDuper! 230]

Go ahead, AJ, and call the TV station and give 'em a piece of your mind: "This is America. Speak English!"

[Jenn! 918]

i don't understand why they show them. the programming is in english, so viewers should be able to understand english. if not, then they're watching a spanish language channel and they won't see the ad.

[TBoneTX 46,690]

i don't understand why they show them. the programming is in english, so viewers should be able to understand english. if not, then they're watching a spanish language channel and they won't see the ad.

A reversal: When I visit the Rio Grande Valley (Tejas), I listen to an all-Spanish music/talk radio station, 98.5 FM. I can't understand very much of what's said or sung about, but I try.

One of the DJs (Raul, I think) has an on-air sidekick, a chicken named "Pepito el Pollo." One of the few things that I was ever able to catch (one day) was that Pepito was complaining about the temperature of the frying pan.

On my most recent visit, I was quite startled to hear (on that all-Spanish station) a commercial in which Pepito asked someone, in English, what she was going to buy for Christmas at J.C. Penney. The dialogue soon changed to Spanish, but I was intrigued that anything on 98.5 would be not-in-Spanish, especially from a Mexican chicken.

Perhaps local listeners who objected to that bilingual activity have already called 1-800-ABOGADO, si man.

Edited January 4, 2010 by TBoneTX

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Why not? There is a huge market to cater to Spanish speaking people and prevent them from learning English and succeeding in life in the USA.

The slave labor market of illegal workers is needed by both Democrats and Republicans. Who will serve the need for an underclass if they learn English, become legal and demand higher wages? New illegal workers, that is who.

Legal American workers will not work for such low wages as they simply make lots more on welfare than they can working. We NEED illegal workers that will work for much less than the federally imposed minimum wage, the only way to do that is with illegal workers who do not speak English and have no choice. Look for further promotion of the Spanaish languge to further oppress these people in the future.

If we CARED about people we would impose a federal $500,000 per day TAX on each illegal worker. That would end the oppression and slavery and allow the illegal worker to walk back home to freedom. Then we should broadcast English lessons into Mexico and Central America. English is the international language of business and you will go a lot further in life speaking at least two languages as long as one of them is English.

[Staashi 371]

Many of your mainstream channels have shows that are simulcast in Spanish. Maybe there is a large Spanish-speaking population checking out those shows.

[Richard90027 1]

Have any of you seen this before? I never noticed it till this evening. Consolidated Credit is advertising on regular English-language channels but the ads are in all Spanish. The only entirely-Spanish ads I've seen prior to this evening have been on Spanish channels.

Is this some kind of new trend?

This is very common in Los Angeles, I figure it is the Liberal Media trying to make the Illegals here happy...

[TBoneTX 46,690]

There is a huge market to cater to Spanish speaking people and prevent them from learning English and succeeding in life in the USA.

There's a huge market, yet I'm not so sure that the reasoning is as monolithic as that. Years ago, the prevalence of the "parallel" Spanish-language market irritated the bejeezus out of me (si, man). Now, after many discussions with C. (the wife) and interactions with her Hispanic friends, I have a different perspective. It is less that the Hispanics don't want to learn English than it is a lack of opportunity for them to practice what they've learned or are trying to learn.

C.'s friends, who are all married to men from their own original countries, are uniformly envious that C. is married to a gringo and therefore gets to practice speaking English at home, all the time -- including having her grammatical & pronunciation errors corrected, when necessary. This includes friends in her English class. Even if the friends tried to speak English at home with their husbands, there wouldn't come much improvement in grammar or comprehension, because both parties would be using only what they already knew or picked up, with no "live coaching."

This goes for the blue-collar types (some of whom work multiple jobs and are tired when they get home -- too tired to add "learning better English" as a life priority amidst making ends meet, caring for the kids, etc.) and for the professionals (who constitute probably 90% of C.'s friends). I have become convinced that the desire to learn English and fulfilling that desire are sometimes incompatible as the priorities of daily life unfold.

Envision this: You would like to learn English but know it only basically (a few simple words & phrases, and perhaps you must often translate things to yourself into and out of your first language in order to comprehend or speak English). A radio commercial comes on in English. The announcer talks so quickly that you miss out on points that would attract you to the advertised product or service. Wouldn't the commercial be more effective (for advertiser & prospect) in your first language?

Envision this parallel scenario: You're an advertiser. A 30-second radio spot is very expensive. Would you rather talk slowly and basically, or cram as full a sales-pitch into the 30 seconds that the speed of speech allows?

English is the international language of business and you will go a lot further in life speaking at least two languages as long as one of them is English.

Abso-certainly-lutely, si man! (I could go a lot further in life if I ever buckled down & learned Spanish.)

One of my lasting regrets involves my having met a teenager (perhaps age 15) who lived in an ultra-isolated Texas border town and whose industrious parents were doing everything to make ends meet. The boy seemed frustrated with life, and he noted aloud that his own English wasn't very good (although, to me, it was OK). I did not tell him, "Fernando, I know that life seems hard for you right now -- but remember that there's a great big world out there. If you learn English and learn it well, any part of that world that you want can be yours." Although his town is arguably at the very end of the road in west Texas, I'm tempted to travel out there again, purely to try to find the boy and tell him what I should've. Si, man.

Edited January 4, 2010 by TBoneTX

[ScottThuy 140]

Many of your mainstream channels have shows that are simulcast in Spanish. Maybe there is a large Spanish-speaking population checking out those shows.

If you want to see what kind of market is out there.. look at what channels are offered in spanish via Dish network.. they are fully aware of the demand and have gone after it.. not just a few channels, but as many as they can find... the spanish speaking market is the fastest growing market in the US now... these marketing companies know it and are going after it.. not only on the spanish speaking networks, but any other media that may reach them. Look at any governmental agency, large retailer such as Home Depot and you will see that everything is in spanish as well as english today... dont be surprised if you see far more commercials in spanish in coming years.... it has nothing to do with 'illegals' as was stated above... that is just absurd.. it has to do with the fastest growing ethnicity in the nation today...

I have no problem with spanish commercials.. I have issue with tax $'s being spent on translations for specific languages where the same translations are not readily available for all other languages... the translations are there because of discrimination lawsuits which have already been argued stating that governmental agencies were biased against hispanics since they had information in english only.. the same argument could be made and won based on any other ethnicity... The local Home depot discriminates against Vietnamese speaking americans because they don't have signs in Vietnamese... only english and spanish ???? or the local health department discriminates against Italian speaking americans because they don't have translation or informaion in Italian... but they have them in 5 or 6 other languages?????

[FortLaudy 10]

The only time I get annoyed with Spanish on tv, is when I can't understand it... so we DVR every show we like to watch and skip through all the commercials... but it just reminds me that we really should start learning some Spanish, since we live in Florida.

[mawilson 2,133]

i don't understand why they show them. the programming is in english, so viewers should be able to understand english. if not, then they're watching a spanish language channel and they won't see the ad.

[panamania79 2]

Have any of you seen this before? I never noticed it till this evening. Consolidated Credit is advertising on regular English-language channels but the ads are in all Spanish. The only entirely-Spanish ads I've seen prior to this evening have been on Spanish channels.

Is this some kind of new trend?

I don't know,I don't watch TV

[panamania79 2]

I think the spanish ads are better on galavision and telemundo..at least, they have better ####### jobs

I think you need to watch Caracol then!

[panamania79 2]

There's a huge market, yet I'm not so sure that the reasoning is as monolithic as that. Years ago, the prevalence of the "parallel" Spanish-language market irritated the bejeezus out of me (si, man). Now, after many discussions with C. (the wife) and interactions with her Hispanic friends, I have a different perspective. It is less that the Hispanics don't want to learn English than it is a lack of opportunity for them to practice what they've learned or are trying to learn.

C.'s friends, who are all married to men from their own original countries, are uniformly envious that C. is married to a gringo and therefore gets to practice speaking English at home, all the time -- including having her grammatical & pronunciation errors corrected, when necessary. This includes friends in her English class. Even if the friends tried to speak English at home with their husbands, there wouldn't come much improvement in grammar or comprehension, because both parties would be using only what they already knew or picked up, with no "live coaching."

This goes for the blue-collar types (some of whom work multiple jobs and are tired when they get home -- too tired to add "learning better English" as a life priority amidst making ends meet, caring for the kids, etc.) and for the professionals (who constitute probably 90% of C.'s friends). I have become convinced that the desire to learn English and fulfilling that desire are sometimes incompatible as the priorities of daily life unfold.

Envision this: You would like to learn English but know it only basically (a few simple words & phrases, and perhaps you must often translate things to yourself into and out of your first language in order to comprehend or speak English). A radio commercial comes on in English. The announcer talks so quickly that you miss out on points that would attract you to the advertised product or service. Wouldn't the commercial be more effective (for advertiser & prospect) in your first language?

Envision this parallel scenario: You're an advertiser. A 30-second radio spot is very expensive. Would you rather talk slowly and basically, or cram as full a sales-pitch into the 30 seconds that the speed of speech allows?Abso-certainly-lutely, si man! (I could go a lot further in life if I ever buckled down & learned Spanish.)

One of my lasting regrets involves my having met a teenager (perhaps age 15) who lived in an ultra-isolated Texas border town and whose industrious parents were doing everything to make ends meet. The boy seemed frustrated with life, and he noted aloud that his own English wasn't very good (although, to me, it was OK). I did not tell him, "Fernando, I know that life seems hard for you right now -- but remember that there's a great big world out there. If you learn English and learn it well, any part of that world that you want can be yours." Although his town is arguably at the very end of the road in west Texas, I'm tempted to travel out there again, purely to try to find the boy and tell him what I should've. Si, man.

I have a friend who has been here for 24 years and still doesn't speak English,now there is no need for that!

Why not? There is a huge market to cater to Spanish speaking people and prevent them from learning English and succeeding in life in the USA.

The slave labor market of illegal workers is needed by both Democrats and Republicans. Who will serve the need for an underclass if they learn English, become legal and demand higher wages? New illegal workers, that is who.

Legal American workers will not work for such low wages as they simply make lots more on welfare than they can working. We NEED illegal workers that will work for much less than the federally imposed minimum wage, the only way to do that is with illegal workers who do not speak English and have no choice. Look for further promotion of the Spanaish languge to further oppress these people in the future.

If we CARED about people we would impose a federal $500,000 per day TAX on each illegal worker. That would end the oppression and slavery and allow the illegal worker to walk back home to freedom. Then we should broadcast English lessons into Mexico and Central America. English is the international language of business and you will go a lot further in life speaking at least two languages as long as one of them is English.