How Advertising Depicts Lower Class Hispanics - Research Paper Example

Advertising towards lower Hispanics in the United s tends to be focused on a specific image. Hispanics are shown as migrant service workers, with large families, and little or no English speaking skills. In the work field Hispanics occupy jobs other ethnic tend to shun. Landscaping, cleaning, farm workers, and others jobs are occupied by Hispanics in an effort to make a living for their families. The poorer classes of Hispanics often are immigrants, legal or illegal. This means that their first language is Spanish.

Thus the advertising based towards these individuals is rooted in fact. However, the exaggerated or disproportionate manner tends to offend the people being advertised toward. Hispanics will often rely on word of mouth instead of mass advertising campaigns due to the mistrust. First generation Hispanics are generally the targeted lower class of Hispanic of mass advertising. The moral concept of this type of advertising is low, because it only perpetuates stereotypes of Hispanics. If someone from another planet seen these advertisements, they would think Hispanics in a negative light.

The stereotypical concepts dictate the advertising toward lower class Hispanics in the United States. A majority of Hispanic workers have jobs that require little educational experience. Cohen (2007:22) reports: Employment opportunities for Hispanics are low skill occupations calling for less than a high school education. The 2004 Pew Latino Labor Report indicated that 81% of new jobs for foreign born Hispanics and 76% of new jobs for native born Hispanics were in occupations that required minimal formal education.

These jobs are service jobs. Landscaping, construction, cleaning, and so forth are jobs Hispanics undertake. These jobs are low paying, but have a few benefits that appeal to Hispanics. Legal and illegal Hispanics can find jobs that are ‘off the books’ or cash based. This is attractive to legal residents because they do not pay taxes. Illegal residents do not have to have documentation to work cash based jobs. Mass advertisements try to focus on these types of workers. Since migrant service workers will buy more grocery and consumable products, advertisements for food, cell phones, and other consumables these goods are directed at the lower class Hispanics.

This creates a brand and type of merchandise targeted for Hispanics. Mass advertisers have dropped stereotypical characters used in the past such as: Granny Goose chips featuring fat gun-toting Mexicans, an advertisement for Arrid underarm deodorant showing a dusty Mexican bandito spraying his underarms after a hard ride as the announcer intones, ‘If it works for him it will work for you,’ and a magazine advertisement featuring a stereotypical Mexican sleeping under his sombrero as he leans against a Philco television set.

Especially offensive to Martinez was a Liggett & Meyers commercial for L & M cigarettes that featured Paco, a lazy Latino who never ‘feenishes’ anything, not even the revolution he is supposed to be fighting. (Wilson and Gutierrez n.d.: 118) However, just as offensive can be the type of goods advertised toward Hispanics. Luxury cars, credit cards, and other products are not advertised toward Hispanics. Chips, deodorant, televisions, and cigarettes are still being marketed toward the lower Hispanic class.

It seems that mass advertisement does not believe Hispanics can rise beyond the lower class. This might be true with first generation immigrants; it could not be further from the truth with the second and third generations. Cohen (2007:33) writes: Second and third generation Hispanics are a growing consumer force, since they are currently experiencing a surge in upward mobility, through better educational levels, income, employment, household characteristics, and accumulation of wealth. Rising levels of educational attainment, followed by higher paying management and professional occupations, have generated an increase in entrepreneurial activity and purchasing power.

The lack of faith makes Hispanics not trust mass advertising. Cortese (2007) asserts that Hispanics do have larger families. Cohen (2007:16) reports that the U.S. Census Bureau shows Hispanics that have five or more family members: Thus when marketing toward Hispanics, mass advertising takes into account the large family environment. An ad that comes to mind is for a popular taco. The child comes up with the flat bottom taco idea and a whole family or village celebrates. This type of advertisement is specifically for lower class Hispanics in the United States.

Not all advertisements that target Hispanics are appealing to Hispanics. The rival between English and Spanish can cause confusion between Hispanic and English advertising campaigns. Cohen (2007:17) states: Spanish speaking Hispanics tended to be older and made up most of the first generation, while bilingual (English/Spanish) Hispanics were younger and comprised the second generation. Finally, third and beyond generations were primarily English speakers. The bilingual and English speaking generations are more likely to pay attention to English mass advertising, whereas first generation Hispanics would pay more attention to Spanish ads.

One example of an ad offending all generations is a Budweiser ad. Jaffe (2009) explains that a Budweiser ad that used the Spanish slang word ‘guey’ which means ox, offended not only Hispanics, but confused English speakers as well. While English speakers thought ‘guey’ was guy, Hispanics saw the term as an ox. Basically the ad was calling Hispanic males oxen. This offended the Hispanics, but the English speakers did not understand the uproar. Mass advertising can also be unappealing to Hispanics.

(Valdez, 2011) contends that advertising does not represent true Hispanic interest, because most Hispanic business owners advertise through word of mouth. This can be more effective than mass advertising due to the rise in Hispanic businesses. Cohen (2007:35) states: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, minority groups are increasing business ownership at rates higher than the national average. In 2002, there were 1.6 million Hispanic owned businesses, up 31% from 1997, with total receipts of US$ 226.

5 billion, up 22% from 1997. One business owner will discuss their products with customers and families. The word of someone that has used the product holds more weight than a mass advertising campaign. This is especially true for first generation Hispanics. Thus advertising toward the first generation Hispanic working class is futile. There are three generations of Hispanics. The first generation of Hispanics is immigrants. These generally make up the lower class of Hispanics. They come to America with limited resources.

The second generation of Hispanics has at least one parent born in the U.S. This group is middle class. Third generation Hispanics are assimilated into mainstream life. They speak English. Generally both parents have been born in the U.S. The three generations of Hispanics determine what advertising will be effective. The first generation Hispanics depend on word of mouth as seen above. Third generation Hispanics generally are assimilated into mainstream culture, so English advertising do not have to target them.

The second generation Hispanics is where mass advertising should focus. This generation according to Cohen (2007:40): Currently, there is a generational shift taking place within the U.S. Hispanic population. While first generation immigrants generally find themselves culturally isolated, subsequent generations of children and grandchildren adopt patterns of assimilation and acculturation creating segmentation in the Hispanic market. However, research conducted by HispanTelligence indicates that second generation Hispanics preserve some of their cultural traits, while adopting values and skills from the mainstream.

It is this group of acculturated Hispanics that is growing as a powerful consumer force within the Hispanic market. The second generation of Hispanics is rising from lower class to middle class. Thus the lower class targeted by mass advertising is first generation Hispanics. First generation Hispanics do not trust mass advertising. Thus the stereotypes and methods are not effective. The advertising toward lower class Hispanics only propagates bad stereotypes. Hispanics are more than service workers with large families that only speak Spanish.

The moral code of society is deteriorated by this type of advertising. The attitude is Hispanics can be treated as incompetent lower class workers. This type of approach creates a bias that promotes prejudices. If a visitor from another planet saw Hispanic advertising, only negative stereotypes would represent Hispanics. Hispanics would look uneducated. The illegal immigrant aspect would make Hispanics seem like criminals. The overall image would be negative. Instead of negative images, mass advertising needs to promote positive aspects of the Hispanic culture.

More advertising using successful Hispanics like Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, and Victoria Justice need to show how poorer Hispanics can succeed. That is what advertising needs to promote. After visiting Earth, the aliens would find these stories more accurate than the bad images. Advertising towards lower class Hispanics in the United States tends to be focused on the migrant service workers, with large families, and little or no English speaking skills. First generation Hispanics are generally the targeted lower class of Hispanic of mass advertising.

These individuals tend to rely on word of mouth instead of the English mass advertising. The stereotypical products and methods of mass advertising does not just turn off the lower class of Hispanics, but all Hispanics as well. Advertisers would do better to focus on middle and upper class Hispanics. This technique would create better sells with less futile methods. First generation Hispanics might respond to being targeted by mass advertisements, but in the end more are put off than will respond.

Advertising also needs to focus on portraying a better image of Hispanics as a moral code of promoting equality. References Cohen, I. (2007). Hispanics in the United States. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Chili: United Nations. Cortese, A. J. (2007). Provocateur: Images of women and minorities in advertising. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Jaffe, A. M. (2009). Stance: sociolinguistic perspectives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press USA. Valdez, Z. (2011).

The new entrepreneurs: How race, class, and gender shape American enterprise. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Wilson, C.C. II and F. Gutierrez. (n.d.) Race, multiculturalism, and the media: From mass to class communication. 2nd Ed. New York: Sage Publications.