Univision strikes a nerve with "New American Reality" video

I'm sure you've seen it. It's a video Univision created to spur interest in the Hispanic market. Frankly, it's a very smart piece. Inspiring but not pushy, thought provoking and very nicely executed in a great tone of voice. The thoughts are progressive too. They talk about Hispanics being bilingual and living in both worlds. Not the typical 'head in the sand' approach some in Hispanic marketing have taken ("What? Hispanics speaking English?! No, señor! Not here!")

But what's pretty interesting is the reaction from the viewers. The video seems to have been publicized heavily among Hispanics and Hispanic advertising pros, obviously. But a few non-Latino admirers have found their way to the video as well...and their--shall we say, Xenophobic--reactions are pretty loud and forceful. They see this whole Hispanic think as an invasion of their country.


Check out the word cloud below. You see a lot of "like" and "good" and "proud," which comes mostly from Latinos reacting positively to the message. Then you also see "Spanish," which is a predictable discussion topic..."we don't all speak only Spanish" and "I still speak Spanish at home."


The interesting part, though is the next layer of words: "America, White, Hate, Ignorant, English." Those words are really mostly used in an aggressive tone "If you are a true American...don't wave the Mexican flag" or "Enjoy having the dreams of your founding fathers completely obliterated by mexicans, america!" Anyway, nuts-a-plenty.

Now, if you get past all the anger and name-calling, what you'll see is that the discussion is actually about the identity of the country. The Hispanic commenters are saying that "being Latino doesn't make you any less American," while the other folks are claiming that unless you drop the language, forget your roots and completely blend in...you're not American. "My forefathers did it! So should you!"

But that's what's different about this wave of immigration, isn't it? It's not about to get cut off like the Northern European one was, and this time, young folks are embracing the different cultures, consuming the food, listening to the music...

I think we're facing a cultural change in this country like none it has ever experienced. The basic definition of "American" is changing. Some find it objectionable, while others celebrate it. Either way, it's happening and the implications for marketers are impossible to ignore.