Representation of Latinas in Advertising Links for Videos Below: (Slide 4) Tylenol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcubU4epkAo (Slide 6) Glade Fabric & Air: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzq1Dg4QwUk (Slide 11) Sofia Vergara First Pepsi Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BznOT28yrH4 (Slide 14) Sofia Vergara Diet Pepsi Ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNGWpnJUVjk

1. THE REPRESENTATION OF
LATINAS IN ADVERTISING
The topic of the representation of Latinas in advertising has been discussed in class
and I feel is very important to the Hispanic population as a whole. Advertising is a
great way to see how the mainstream culture commonly perceives a certain gender,
ethnicity, and/or age of people.The portrayals of Hispanic women in advertising also
help shape self-perception of many Hispanic women. It is also a means of
acculturation, as it blends both the Hispanic life and American life into acceptable
cultural norms.
by Naomi Roszhart

2. 3 Ways Hispanic Women are Portrayed
in Advertising:
1. Caretakers
2.Celebrities
3. Sex Symbols

3. Hispanic Women as Caretakers in
Advertising
• Advertisers understand that many of the purchases for Hispanic households come from the female
caretakers in the family. Because of this, many advertisements for household products or family-
oriented foods feature a Hispanic woman as the focal point of the advertisement.
• "Finally, among the themes present in the stronger advertising, those that resonated among
Hispanic women centered on quality time with family, making intelligent product choices, and
aspirations to look young and attractive" (Tindle, 2011).
• Mothers are often pictured very conservatively, as many Hispanics hold to traditional methods of
living. "While second and third generation Hispanics are adapting to U.S. culture and customs, they
still maintain strong attachment to Latino traditions and value systems" (Steiner, 2012).

4. Good Example: Tylenol® Give Commercial
(TYLENOLOFFICIAL, 2013)

5. Good Example: Tylenol Cold
Commercial
• Tylenol's "Give" Commercial is an excellent example of good advertising to Latina women. In the
commercial, a Latina woman is shown taking care of her child with the focal point of most of the
commercial being the happiness of the child.
• Rather than stereotyping the mother as a Hispanic woman, the focus of the commercial was on the
child, with the mother's ethnicity being a background concept.The goal was to unite Latina women
as mothers rather than as Hispanic women.The end result is a commercial that appeals to a variety of
ethnicities simply because of the shared idea of motherhood, rather than focusing only on trying to
portray a traditional Hispanic mother role.

6. Bad Example: Glade Fabric & Air
(Cruz, 2015)

7. Bad Example: Glade Fabric & Air
• Hispanic women want to see more than just a Hispanic woman who does all
the housework and takes care of her family.When placed in this one role, the
Hispanic mother only added to the stereotype that a Latina's place is in the
home.
• Latinas wanted variety among caretakers and wanted the mom to do more
than just housework.
• "Those categories where marketers just tend to reduce the role of mother to
be cooking, cleaning, happy, smiling. Even when they try to do it with a
Hispanic mom, it still falls on deaf ears" (McMains, 2013).

8. Hispanic Women Celebrities in
Advertising
• Hispanic women are known to spend quite a lot of time and money in search of youth and beauty.
Because of this, many beautiful Latina women are made spokespersons for makeup and beauty
brands.The brands promote the youth and beauty of their spokesperson and consequently sell
their products through them.
• '“The Latina female is very beauty-involved,” Mr. Cleary said. “She has a much higher propensity to
spend on our brands”' (Vega, 2011).

9. Good Example: Eva Longoria for L'Oréal
(Sam, 2010)

10. Good Example: Eva Longoria for L'Oréal
• This advertisement for L'Oréal'sVolume Million Lashes worked well as it focused mainly on the
product and how the product accentuated the already beautiful Eva Longoria.
• Eva Longoria works well as a spokesperson because she represents the youth and beauty that
many Hispanic women see, or wish to see, in themselves.
• This ad doesn't make her ethnicity a key point in the ad, but rather focuses on the selling point
of the product: how thick and defined the mascara makes the user's eyelashes.

11. Bad Example: Sofia Vergara First Pepsi Commercial
(BaderTV, 2011)

12. Bad Example: Sofia Vergara for Pepsi
• SofiaVergara has been a beloved spokesperson for Pepsi ® products for years, but this
commercial, actually her first, just doesn't work out well. Her ethnicity plays very little part in
this ad, whereas her sexuality and sensuality steal the show in this ad.
• There is also no focus on her identity or who she is apart from her body, which allows viewers
little time to relate to her, a key selling point for Hispanic women buyers.
• That being said, this is her first Pepsi ® commercial ever and they have improved quite a lot.

13. Hispanic Women as Sex Symbols in
Advertising
• In much of the advertising featuring Hispanic women, the women are given roles based largely on
their attractiveness and sensuality.
• Often these women are simply presented as beautiful damsels in distress. A lovely woman waiting
for a man to help her.
• "In addition, in the U.S. ads, female characters tend to receive advice and male characters tend to
give it whereas in Mexican ads, female characters receive help and male characters give it" (Gilly,
83).

14. Good Example: Sofia Vergara for Diet
Pepsi
(Bruce Allen Clark, 2013)

15. Good Example: Sofia Vergara for Diet
Pepsi
• This commercial appeals to Hispanic women because it has a natural sex appeal with which
they can relate. SofiaVergara is both sweet and alluring, but not overtly sexual in this
advertisement.
• It doesn't go for the stereotype of sexy, fiery Latina, but instead peaceful, classy and beautiful
Hispanic woman, which resonates among Latinas of all ages.
• This ad shows her beauty and sex appeal, as well as the sex appeal of the gentleman next to her,
without stereotyping them at all or trying to make them fit a type.

16. Bad Example: Tecate's Cold Latina
(Kellie, 2010)

17. Bad Example: Tecate's Cold Latina
• Although this commercial may not immediately scream sex appeal, the concept is quite clear.
This billboard plays off of the idea that Latinas are always hot, which, to many people would not
seem a bad thing, neglects to focus on anything other than the sex object appeal of Latinas.
• Many people were enraged with this ad, as they felt that it neglected many other facets of
Latinas' identities and focused only on the sexual objectification of them and played into the
stereotypes of very sexual, sensual Hispanic women.
• "Critics felt “the ad propagates negative stereotypes of Hispanic women as being loose and
overly sexual,” but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Family is extremely important to Latinos
and any offense to a family member is certainly not appreciated.As a son, husband, brother
and father of Latino women I found it offensive that a company would imply that all Hispanic
women are 'hot'"(Tornoe, 2007).

18. The Most Effective Method of
Representing Latinas in Advertising:
• In my research, I found that out of the three types of representation of Latinas in advertising:
caretakers, celebrities, and sex symbols- using celebrities in commercials had the most universal
appeal among the demographic.
• Celebrity endorsement worked the best in this demographic as word of mouth is very influential and
having an extremely attractive Hispanic woman speak about her preferences, especially in beauty
products, captures the attention of many Latinas in America.
• Celebrities work the best when it comes to advertising because the Latinas relate to Hispanic
celebrities as one of them and do not seem to stereotype one particular type of woman but instead
offer up a role model among women that females of all ages can look up to and respect.

19. The End

20. References
• Tindle,T. (2011, October 26). AdvertisingStrategies forTargeting U.S. Hispanics. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from
https://www.comscore.com/ita/Insights/Blog/Advertising-Strategies-for-Targeting-U.S.-Hispanics
• Steiner, L. (2012, March 29). AdvertisingTo Hispanics:The Answer Is In Balancing Language AndCultural Signals. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/advertising-hispanic-language-culture_n_1385353.html
• TYLENOLOFFICIAL. (2015, January 6). TYLENOL ® Cold and Children'sTYLENOL ® Give [Video file]. Retrieved November 2, 2015 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcubU4epkAo
• McMains, A. (2013, October 11). Hey Marketers, Latina Moms Aren't as Conservative asYouThink. Retrieved November 8, 2015, from
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/hey-marketers-latina-moms-arent-conservative-you-think-153068
• Vega,T. (2011, December 8). Marketers, and Media Companies, SetTheir Sights on LatinWomen. Retrieved November 8, 2015, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/business/media/media-companies-set-their-sights-on-latin-women.html?_r=0
• Cruz, Doug (2015, August 10). Glade Fabric & Air (2001 Hispanic) [Video file]. Retrieved November 8, 2015 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzq1Dg4QwUk
• (Eva Longoria Photo)Sam, S. (2010, August 15). Eva Longoria: L’Oreal Extra-VolumeCollagene Million Lashes. Retrieved November 20, 2015,
from http://www.sassisamblog.com/2010/08/15/loreal-extravolume-collagene-million-lashes/
• Gilly, M. C.. (1988). Sex Roles in Advertising:AComparison ofTelevision Advertisements in Australia, Mexico, and the UnitedStates.Journal of
Marketing, 52(2), 83. http://doi.org/10.2307/1251266

21. References Page 2
• BaderTV. (2011, February 15) Actress Sofia Vergara First Pepsi Commercial. Retrieved
November 14, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BznOT28yrH4
• Bruce Allen Clark. (2013, February 25) Diet Pepsi Tv Commercial - Ad Youtube - Sofia
Vergara. Retrieved November 14, 2014 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNGWpnJUVjk
• (Cold Latina Photo) Kellie, E. (2010, April 30). RACE IN MEDIA. Retrieved November 14,
2015, from http://ellenkellie.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html
• Tornoe, J. (2007, November 12). When bad Hispanic advertising happens to good companies.
Retrieved November 14, 2015, from http://learn.latpro.com/bad-hispanic-advertising/