Toyota: Camry Hybrid
A politically, academically and socially problematic issue for many, we can all agree that the use of Spanglish in the United States is, in the very least, a reality. No matter what your opinion may be regarding the validity of Spanish/English fusion, it is here, it exists, and it is being embraced by advertising, marketing and public relations professionals alike.
In the linguistic and academic world definitions of language and dialect can be polemic, especially in the case of those that do not have written grammar rules nor a regulatory institution, such as the Real Academia Española. Linguistic purists argue that Spanglish (or any other similar occurrence) breaches the laws that govern language. Others, including Manuel Seco of the RAE, consider that, “Language belongs to the community that speaks it, and what this community accepts is what truly ‘exists,’ and what is used and accepted is what is definitively correct.” Every year the amount of academic investigation into the phenomenon increases, as well as the amount of literature published in Spanglish. It could even been argued that, in time, Spanglish will replace American English, just as the English we speak today was born out of ancient Germanic and French dialects that were later infused with Latin and Greek during the Renaissance.
From a sociological standpoint, it is interesting to observe Spanglish in action. This is a form of expression that comes from the convergence of two languages through code switching, borrowing, and calquing, brought about by new Latino realities in the United States. The creation of these new cultural spaces and identities goes beyond “Hispanic” and “American” to form a unique, comprehensive existence that is more than just a dual sensibility with one foot in the United States and one foot in the country of origin. In his 2002 book Living in Spanglish (St. Martin’s Press), Ed Morales asserts, “Spanglish is what we speak, but it is also who we Latinos are, and how we act, and how we perceive the world.” A reflection of self, Spanglish is seen in familial and social settings as well as, increasingly, in the professional world.
Here at the vox collective, as a resident gringa, I am envious of my colleagues’ ability to express themselves with twice the vocabulary. My family came to the United States in a different wave of immigration, from a country whose native tongue was not widespread in the United States. During the first half of the century, especially for a group comparatively small in number, the emphasis was not put on retaining one’s ethnic culture. And therefore, as a third generation Syrian American, I was not given the gift of heritage through language. I am glad to see that times are changing, and I applaud Hispanic community’s rechazo of complete assimilation. Rather, Spanglish builds on the old and the new. It gives us all a contemporary template with which to define what it means to be “American”.
The advertising, marketing and PR industry’s focal shift toward the Latino market mirrors these changing times. With that shift, Spanglish is quickly becoming yet another mechanism in the advertiser’s repertoire to tap into the purchasing power of the Hispanic community. In a cleverly scripted television commercial, Toyota found a way to speak to a Hybrid consumer about their Hybrid product—by using Spanglish. Toyota is not alone in its advertising venture into the uncharted metaphysical borderland. Other pioneers include Corona, Budweiser, Burger King, Dollar Rent-A-Car and the US Army. These companies have declared that the effectiveness of Spanglish in advertising is worth exploration. After all, if the sole purpose of the medium is to connect and communicate with consumers, it is imperative to speak their language.
by: Michele Cannon
