Laura Martinez is a journalist. Probably a real one and not a blogger. She, like us, gets her fair share of press releases and was recently very confused by a pitch from Procter & Gamble - the company that owns Pretty Much Everything In The Known Universe. The headline read “Tide and Downy Total Care Partner with Celebrity Stylist Irma Martinez to Help Latinas Finding Their Style that Lasts.” After jerking herself out of a bored stupor, Laura tried to figure out exactly what companies are after when they intend to market a product or service to a Latina:

In the end, I sort of figured out what P&G was up to: Citing a study showing Latinas spend “considerably more time (average 135.1 minutes) shopping, compared to their Caucasian and African-American counterparts at 89.4 and 109.27 minutes, respectively,” the marketer wanted to highlight the importance of maintaining and enhancing the beauty of our “second skin,” (i.e., our clothes.) A bit of a stretch if you ask me. But regardless, nowhere in the 800-plus-word release I was able to understand exactly why this was a broad Hispanic-women specific message.

If, as we’ve been discussing at length in this blog, marketers and their ad agencies are moving past so-called Latino clichés and the conversation about insights has moved to a higher level, why does this particular pitch seems to put Hispanic women (whatever they might do for a living) into one big basket — the beauty, style and confidence basket?

The copy for the campaign is about as inane and derivative as you, spicily marketed-to Latina that you are, probably expected:

“By following some simple, basic guidelines, Latinas can achieve a ‘Style That Lasts’ that fits their needs, enhances their own beauty and gives them the confidence to shine every day,” Irma Martinez (no relation to this blogger) [Ed. note: Oh. Hey, you said ‘journalist!’] said in the statement, which then goes on to list 10 practical tips for Latinas to consider before going shopping (“pick vibrant colors for trendy pieces,” “when shopping, take into consideration your body shape,” and so on.)

What strikes most about this campaign is how, even in the form of an teensy snippet, it manages to uphold several stereotypes and clichés regarding Latinas and their bodies, namely that we wear “vibrant colors” and have shapes that need to be taken “into consideration” while shopping. At their surface, these seem like rather benign comments. But its important (Unless you’re an inevitable asshole commenter who is going to accuse of looking “too deeply” into something and that maybe we should just “get over it,” in which case: You’re an asshole, Inevitable Asshole Commenter!) to look at how clichés limit people. People who are happy and vibrant are not usually also intelligent or thoughtful. People who must take their shapes into consideration when shopping do so because they’re so different from what’s “normal” - their bodies have all these extra, sexy swerves and curves because they’re as sexual as they are vibrant. Like tropical flowers or parrots, loud, but only meant to be looked at and not listened to.

It’s messages like these — that both attempt to cater to you and simultaneously present this version of you thats patently false and limiting — that make us shake our heads and be thankful that we steal other people’s detergents. It’s these subtle forms of dehumanization, that special brand of stereotyping that makes every Latina a mother who dances salsa while she vacuums — free of such cumbersome accoutrements as a college education, a job or a sense of person divorced from being a housekeeper — that can be the most harmful. It’s more difficult to know when you’re being lied to when it’s done with a smile. And to the beat of “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”

Tidying Up Insights About Latino Women [Ad Age]