Thread: Spanish commercial on NFL game- letter to editor

This is a good letter to the editor. Recently several NFL games have had commericals in complete Spanish. Many people are NOT happy. Seen any of this in your area?!


Futbol and culture

I believe that the NFL and NBC-TV owe those of other ethnic heritages a huge apology for using the Sunday night, Sept. 23, football game as a venue to showcase Hispanic Heritage Month. Have you ever seen Bastille Day or Polish Heritage Month celebrated on national TV to such an extent?

The media is taking great advantage of its financial and political powers to shove Hispanic culture down the throats of Americans who expect nothing less than English as the spoken language on national (as in American) TV. If I wanted to watch the Bears game and NBC commercials in Spanish, I would have voluntarily tuned into Telemundo. As it was, I boycotted watching the rest of the game and tuned into English-speaking reruns.

Shame on the NFL and NBC for attempting to pioneer the inevitable push for Spanish as the spoken language in America! And, shame on the American people for letting it happen.

This is not an issue of racism. I am speaking out for the preservation of a country built on the hard labor of immigrants, like my children's great-grandparents, who made America their own by learning the language and customs.

They didn't expect this country to change signage or national television programs to Russian or Polish. They struggled and succeeded in learning America's language as part of the long process of becoming American citizens.

It is sad that the head honchos of the NFL and NBC are willing to sacrifice the heritage of American citizenship to the almighty buck. It may soon to be the almighty peso if Americans are not willing to stand up and fight for what they believe in.

Sandy Hartogh

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article

I turned it off... I could not stand it...

Here is more explanation. This was on our local site and they didn't post a link.

FL CELEBRATES HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH




NFL TO FOCUS NATIONALLY ON SEPTEMBER 23 DALLAS AT CHICAGO GAME


The National Football League will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) with a new Spanish-language TV campaign and unprecedented festivities at games across the country, including many teams designating home games in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and displaying special "Fútbol Americano - Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month" banners in stadium. NFL players such as Chicago Bears Roberto Garza honor the month with local community outreach on Tuesdays, the traditional day off for NFL players during the season.



This year the NFL will put a national spotlight on Hispanic Heritage Month during the September 23 game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears on NBC Sunday Night Football at 8:15 PM ET.


Five-time Grammy award winner Gloria Estefan will sing the national anthem live on NBC. Estefan's first single, "No Llores," from her new Spanish-language album, "90 Millas," already topped the Latin Billboard chart, marking Gloria's 20th #1 hit. "It's always an honor for me to represent my culture in every aspect of life," says Estefan of her participation in the NFL's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. "90 Millas" will be released on September 18.


Grammy award winning Ozomatli will perform at halftime. The band is known for their wide array of musical styles and its dedication to addressing social justice issues - a hallmark of the band's work ever since they formed in 1995. Ozomatli has won two Grammy awards, a Latin Grammy, two Billboard Latin awards and an Alma award.


In addition to airing Estefan's performance, NBC will also telecast part of Ozomatli's halftime performance. Telemundo will feature special coverage of Estefan and Ozomatli's performances, highlighting the NFL's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month in its programming.


Chicago Bears center Roberto Garza will visit the Rauner Family YMCA on Tuesday, September 18. This Y is in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood and serves primarily Hispanic children and families. Garza was recognized by the Rauner Family YMCA at its 2006 Sporting Festival for his support and involvement with the children of the community. Children from the Y will hold the American flag on the field during Estefan's national anthem performance at the game.

"One of the distinguishing characteristics of football is the way it brings diverse groups of people together," says Lisa Baird, NFL Senior Vice President of Marketing. "We're excited to honor our Hispanic players, coaches, front-office personnel and our fans this month. We're constantly working to better serve our fans."

Additionally, the NFL is launching a new Spanish-language TV campaign, titled "We are fans!", as the nation celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with spots airing on CBS, FOX, ESPN and NBC, as well as Spanish-language networks Telemundo, and ESPN Deportes. The spots will air with English subtitles during NFL games on general market programming.

The campaign includes two 30-second spots as well as four 10-second identifiers using the tagline "juntense" or "get together." The spots were created by Hispanic agency The Vidal Partnership and portray comical situations in which Latinos reveal they are NFL fans.

"We are very excited about this campaign which sets out to shine a light on U.S. Hispanics as NFL fans," said Tony Ruiz, Chief Strategic Officer at The Vidal Partnership. "In these spots, the NFL is facilitating a dialogue in a fun, approachable manner that invites U.S. Hispanics to claim their affinity for the NFL. The executions combine the energy and excitement of American football with elements that are uniquely rooted in the Hispanic experience. This work will deepen the connection between the NFL and the 72% of U.S. Hispanic adults that engage with it every week".

Univision Radio, the NFL's Spanish-language radio partner will air a 30-second radio version of the commercials. A print ad will run in USA Today Sports that complements the TV campaign as well.

P.S. playing advertisements in spanish has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with HISPANIC HERITAGE (a paraphrase from a hispanic co-worker upset by this)

Gloria Estefan

hmmm... if this is Hispanic Heritage Month....someone needs to send a memo to the morons who thought of this. Estefan is not Hispanic, she is Cuban.


Now everyone is a Hispanic, dern they can't make up their mind what they are.

The only cuban I know who is Spaniard is Fidel Castro


I get pissed when I hear a spanish commercial on a English channel, and I am of Mexican and Hispanic ancestry. Yes - there is a difference between the two, however many morons don't think so.

...sighs

And when we complain, we get labeled as racists, and intolerant bigots. I have nothing against Spanish as a language. I dont care if they speak it at home. Just learn English, and adapt to American culture LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DID when they migrated here! Jeez, even the terrorists learn English nowadays!

And why do the illegals all think that they are better than everyone else all the time? I have to go to Wally World every now and again, and it never fails- some illegal broodmare will cut in front of me in the checkout line with her two carts piled high with crap, eight or nine kids not more than 9 moths apart, and when I tell her the end of the line is back there behind me, acts like she doesn't understand. She'll gather her anchor babies around her and start yammering loudly in Spanish, then when it's her turn to check out, the clerk will usually say something to the effect of "Did you find everything OK?" and the broodmare will say "Yes, I find everything just fine" in PERFECTLY INTELLIGIBLE ENGLISH. Then she'll whip out her Lone Star Card to pay for all the groceries!

Go ahead, call me a racist bigot. It's MY country, America- not AMexico!