If you don’t want to read the link Earl Stewart is a Toyota dealer in Florida who, even though he doesn’t speak Spanish, created ads (with him reading cue cards) of him making his pitch in Spanish and broadcasting it on English-language channels. He says that this was an effort to sell more cars in an area that has a large Hispanic population. Here is the commercial, with Stewart starting out apologising that he doesn’t speak Spanish. (The commercial is subtitled in English.)
Apparently he didn’t expect the backlash. People informed him they would never buy a car from him. They called him a traitor, and he was accused of not knowing what country he’s in. Seems he’d lifted the lid of the moron bin. Still, September was a record sales month.
I’m posting this in IMHO since people might have opinions on his advertising tactics, the negative feedback, and whatnot. Stewart is unapologetic. He says straight out that he made his commercial to sell more cars. He also says that speaking to these targeted customers in either their first language or the language of their parents or grandparents is a sign of respect. Good on him for not backing down.
I guess I don’t understand the controversy. Surely he’s not the first car dealer in Florida to advertise in Spanish.
I still remember good old, “Yo quiero ser su dentista” from some local dentist in LA twenty years ago. Good times, good times.
The deal seems to be that he had the gall to have a Spanish-language ad on an English-speaking station. :rolleyes: Turned off a lot of Real Amurrikins. ‘If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it’s good enough to sell cars!’
EDIT: just to be clear, bluethree, the rolleyes were not for you, but for the Offenderati.
That ad actually made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The pronunciation was abysmal, but that actually makes it kind of endearing. I think it was absolutely an awesome thing to do and if I lived in Florida, I would totally buy a car from that dude.
Good grief, I’d think that with the results he’s gotten more people will start advertising on English language channels in Spanish. What impresses me is that he went into the ad apologising for his poor command of the language - that kind of attitude would leave me thinking he’d be likely to be similarly honest in his other business dealings, too.
And after reading that blog article? I’d definately buy from him were I in his area, and could afford a car.
I think it was a bold marketing move, and a nice one. So what if his pronunciation was a little off; his sentiment seemed sincere. I’d buy from him, if I lived around there. I just like his idea of reaching out to the Latino community, and I’m not even Latino.
Actually, i believe that the lid of Florida’s moron bin burst off some time ago due to the constant pressure. They’re talking about trading the bin for a larger model, and are currently holding talks with Texas over the design.
Ah, but you see, he not only advertised in the Anglo station, but in the Anglo station for Palm Beach County. *(Insert obligatory comment about PBC voters bollocking up the 2000 election; there, done, let’s move on) * PBC (and the immediate adjacent areas) does NOT merely include the posh beachfronts, but also a few rundown areas and quite a large expanse of Southern ruralia. A lot of the residents of that region have no use for the “cosmopolitan” facade put up by the shoreline-focused South Florida Establishment. (This is true of many Fla. counties, and not entirely unjustified in that too often local officials have concentrated too much on keeping the touristy areas up, while letting the hinterlands languish.)
Earl made uncomfortable a subset of the general population who fear that as in Miami-Dade, the “outsiders”, *meaning not just 'spanics but also relocated northerners, * will eventually take over the economy and power structure (heck, too late: the area’s last Republican candidate for Congress was Puerto Rican, and he almost won – and he had to run as replacement for the guy who got nailed IMing pages!). To them, their TV station was a final refuge where they would not have to hear the dread lengua extraña and be reminded of the inevitable.
Stewart had the business acumen to understand the following: Latinos who* “are movin’-on-up”*, will watch mainstream English-language TV – as there is not that much variety on Univisión and Telemundo. I live in San Juan and most of my TV watching is US channels on cable and TVEspañola via satellite: There are weeks where I watch NO programming on Univision or Telemundo except for the local news report.
The people that are offended by this ad should never watch the local Yakima, Washington television station. The area has a very large hispanic population and at least half the commercials on the station are in Spanish, most have English subtitiles. Some were actually rather funny like old Japanese movies dubbed into English, the words of the person talking no way match the mouth movements.
A large chunk of Florida’s population moved here from elsewhere; I think they would be morons wherever they lived. Florida does seem to draw them, though. It we do need a new and improved moron container, it does make sense to consult with Texas.
The genius of this is that the type of folks most likely to take umbrage with this are the type who would never think of buying a non-American car in the first place.
I was just about to say the same thing as ShibbOleth. If Billy Bob Red Neck doesn’t trade in his Pinto for a Toyota the world is hardly coming to an end.
That would be our local Hispanic station. However, our local “English” stations end most local ads with Se Habla Espanol. And almost all of our stores sport signs saying the same. The Lower Yakima Valley is mostly Hispanic, and even the traditionally Anglo Upper Valley is filled with Spanish speaking stores. Drives my husband crazy; doesn’t bother me except when I know they are talking about me.
See, I wish I could learn another language, but my brain just won’t pick them up. I’ve tried and failed consistently. Knowing Spanish would be great, given where I live. I can read it somewhat, which is helpful. And I know most of the words for redhead, which is how I can tell when they are talking about me.
To the OP: I completely support this guy’s ad campaign.
I don’t see why people speaking English or Spanish is any of this guy’s concern. His business is to sell cars, and if half the local population is Spanish-speaking, he’d be foolish not to try to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community. I guess his mistake was overestimating the English-speaking community.
