17632: Got Multicultural? LERMA/ Wins Real California Milk.

MediaPost published unintentional Hispanic Heritage Month content by reporting LERMA/ gained AOR status for Real California Milk, the consumer-facing brand of the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB).

LERMA/ once served as a Latino-focused advertising agency alongside The Richards Group, eventually breaking away on its own around the time Stan Richards left the building.

Here’s hoping Real California Milk comes with more than real California crumbs.

LERMA/ Named AOR For Real California Milk

By Steve McClellan

Dallas-based full-service agency, LERMA/ has been named agency of record for Real California Milk, the consumer-facing brand of the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), following a competitive review led by Mercer Island Group.  

The organization had previously worked with Deutsch LA for many years although it wasn’t immediately clear if that agency was still the incumbent when the review was called or if it participated in the review. 

The account encompasses creative, strategy, social, media, data and analytics, multicultural marketing and website responsibilities.  

LERMA/ is tasked with building greater meaning and relevance around the Real California Milk seal, with the goal of increasing consumer preference and purchase of seal-stamped dairy products at retail.  

“LERMA/ stood out from the beginning for the passion they brought to our business and their understanding of the opportunity ahead,” said Adrienne Daniels, Executive Vice President, Marketing at the CMAB. “Beyond the strength of the creative thinking, we felt an immediate cultural fit with the team.”  

The first work from the partnership is expected to launch in January 2027.  

The CMAB represents California dairy farmers, and its mission is to promote demand for milk and other dairy products made in the state. That’s a separate organization from the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB) which represents the companies that pasteurize, bottle, and distribute liquid milk. Their iconic “Got Milk?” campaign was created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners in the 1990’s. CMPB and Goodby parted ways in 2017 after 25 years.

17626: On The New Age Of Abuelas.

 

Advertising Age published a Hispanic Heritage Month perspective on giving a multicultural marketing makeover to abuelas.

The new abuelas—it’s time for Hispanic marketing to retire an outdated archetype

By Jorge Becerra

Few characters are as familiar in Hispanic advertising as the abuela. For decades, she has been one of the most heavily used creative shortcuts for signaling family, tradition and cultural authenticity.

But while longevity has changed what later life looks like, advertising’s version of the abuela has barely changed at all. In fact, the abuela that advertising keeps putting on screen increasingly bears little resemblance to today’s abuelas.

Recently, I started reading Andrew Scott’s The Longevity Imperative, and it got me thinking about how our idea of later life is changing dramatically, and how slowly advertising has changed with it. People are living longer, but culturally we still compress older people into a remarkably narrow set of roles.

For Latina women, that disconnect is especially striking.

According to the CDC, a Hispanic woman who reaches 65 can expect, on average, another 23 years of life. In other words, 65 is not the beginning of the epilogue. It can be the beginning of another two-decade chapter.

And those years are not necessarily being spent withdrawing from the world. According to AARP research, 62% of Hispanic adults 50-plus say they maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. And 34% are focused on learning new skills.

We are comfortable showing abuela teaching. Why not show her learning?

Working life also deserves a place in the frame. Hispanic adults have higher labor force participation than white and Black adults across the 55-plus, 65-plus and 75-plus age groups. Working longer is not necessarily a choice, but it certainly challenges the image of later life as a permanent retreat from the world.

And yes, there is also life beyond giving romantic advice to grandchildren. Among Americans 65-80, 40% report being sexually active, and nearly three-quarters of those say they are very satisfied with their sex lives. Research also suggests older Hispanic adults are having even more sex than non-Hispanic white people the same age.

That probably isn’t the abuela most advertising has been showing us.

This is a new generation of abuelas: women who are living longer, working longer, traveling, exercising, dating, creating, spending, caring for multiple generations and continuing to reinvent themselves well into what we once considered “old age.”

Yet our cultural image of them hasn’t caught up.

In AARP research, 76% of Hispanics 50-plus said older people are underrepresented in advertising, and 84% said they would be more likely to buy from a brand featuring people their age. Perhaps even more revealing, 60% said they try to keep up with trends, compared with just 24% of the general 50-plus population surveyed.

That is a very different consumer from the one much of Hispanic advertising keeps casting.

For U.S. marketers, this represents more than an opportunity for better representation. It is a challenge to rethink one of Hispanic marketing’s most persistent cultural archetypes.

The abuela can still represent family, wisdom and tradition. But she can also represent ambition, independence, vitality and possibility.

The opportunity is to give abuelas the same dimensionality we increasingly demand for every other audience.

Marcelo Arango, founder and CEO of Young Aurelius, a strategic consultancy focused on helping companies navigate demographic change, foster intergenerational collaboration and better understand older generations, believes the shift requires marketers to rethink the assumptions they have long made about aging.

“We are long overdue for a new playbook. Longevity didn’t just add years to the end of life. It created an entirely new stage of adulthood. The demographics have changed, but we are still marketing to a world that no longer exists,” said Arango.

For our industry, that should force a creative reset.

Abuela has long been one of Hispanic marketing’s most efficient cultural shortcuts. Put her in an ad, and within seconds we communicate heritage, family, care and authenticity.

But shortcuts become stereotypes when we stop updating them.

In recent years, we have become much better at questioning one-dimensional representations of Latinas, or younger generations. Yet somehow, abuela remains stuck in an outdated script.

The next generation of abuelas can still embody wisdom, tradition and connection. Those qualities have not disappeared. What has expanded is everything around them: their economic lives, ambitions, relationships, identities and sense of what is still possible.

Perhaps the most respectful thing Hispanic marketing can do is stop treating older Latinas primarily as custodians of the past.

They are also participants in the present and, most importantly, authors of the future.

17611: On Annual Hispanic Heritage Month Pleas.

Advertising Age published the obligatory annual Hispanic Heritage Month perspective titled, “Hispanic growth is reshaping America—is your brand keeping up?”

Answer: ¡No!

Hispanic growth is reshaping America—is your brand keeping up?

By Flor Leibaschoff

This Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re happy to report that the stereotypes are finally moving out. We’re not just your gardener anymore. We’re your next-door neighbor now, too.

In 2025, Hispanic households accounted for essentially all of the net homeownership growth in the U.S. And a handful of brands have already figured out what that means for them.

Census data compiled by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals shows Hispanic households added 441,000 net new owner-households last year, the largest single-year gain on record. Strip out Hispanic buyers and the country ends 2025 with roughly 125,000 fewer homeowners than it started with. Hispanics now represent 10.2 million homeowners nationally, an all-time high, and drove 92.6% of all new household formation.

The other half of the story is who’s building the homes: 18.8% of Hispanic-owned businesses are construction businesses, more than any other industry. Those businesses have grown by 75% in five years, while Hispanic-owned employer businesses overall grew 44.4%. That’s compared to 0.46% for all U.S. employer businesses.

The Home Depot, a brand I had the honor of working with for over eight years, already built its playbook around that overlap: Hispanics make up roughly 30% of the construction workforce and a “good majority” of its pro customer base, per the company. Its “Latina Doers” campaign and 15 years investing in this audience just earned The Home Depot the 2026 HMC Marketer of the Year. Molly Battin, chief marketing officer, put it plainly: “The Hispanic customer is not a segment for us; it’s central to how we think about growth.”

Ikea also moved on the Hispanic buyer. It launched a full Spanish-language e-commerce experience in the U.S. in July 2024, not as a campaign moment but as a permanent shopping infrastructure, with bilingual customer service built in. That’s a global furniture brand betting on Latino household formation well before this year’s numbers confirmed it was right to.

On the building side of the business, CertainTeed, a Saint-Gobain brand, runs a national program that provides Hispanic contractors with bilingual business training, credentialing and warranty benefits, helping the pros keep building, not just houses but their legacy. “We love helping our contractors build more than trust with homeowners; we help them build their legacy,” says Ana María Pulido, senior manager of CertainTeed, who leads the company’s Latino contractor initiative.

Sherwin-Williams is doing something similar for painters: its 2026 Leagues Cup push, “Gana con los Pros,” pairs sweepstakes and in-store activation with an existing platform, Acá Entre Pros, built specifically for Hispanic paint professionals.

That’s four categories moving forward:

• General retail

• Furniture

• Roofing and building materials

• Paint

Someone, please tell the Wayfairs of the world, they’re leaving money on the table.

Speaking of money, banks and mortgage lenders should be paying attention, too. Hispanic buyers are twice as likely as non-Hispanic buyers to use FHA financing, the exact product D.R. Horton, Lennar, Rocket Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage all sell at scale.

The data’s out there: Brands treating this as core infrastructure are naming it as their growth strategy in public, and watching their ROI move because of it. The ones still treating it as a seasonal moment are standing next to competitors who already made their move.

Speaking of moving, it’s time to move on this trend and start investing in the Hispanic market, vecino.

17356: Super Bowl LX Advertising Said Adios To Latinos…?

 

Advertising Age published a lengthy report on how Latino representation in Super Bowl LX advertising waned at a critical time for the segment.

 

In short, Latinos got iced while ICE reigned.

 

Hispanic representation wanes in Super Bowl ads at critical time

 

By Lindsay Rittenhouse

 

Diversity is waning in Super Bowl LX advertising, and noticeably scarce this year is Hispanic representation.

 

Several diversity and inclusion experts interviewed for this story said the lack of Hispanic casting and storylines is particularly disappointing given the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s targeting of this community, leaving them already feeling isolated and vulnerable.

 

“Latinos in the U.S. are navigating significant injustices in the current political environment, and non-Hispanic allies are increasingly showing up to support and protest alongside the community,” said Myles Worthington, CEO and founder of agency Worthi. “As marketers, knowing there is a massive influx of this audience watching the Super Bowl, it’d simply be poor strategy not to find a specific way to connect.”

 

Rocket Mortgage’s “America Needs Neighbors Like You” is one of the only national Super Bowl ads this year to prominently feature a Latino cast and promote a more earnest message of unity in a sea of in-game creative that leans heavily into humor. In the ad, friendly gestures by members of a Latino family new to the block help ease perceived tension with their new neighbors.

 

Meanwhile, of the 107 celebrities starring in Big Game spots this year, only eight are Hispanic, including Sofía Vergara, starring in Boehringer Ingelheim’s in-game spot; magician David Blaine, who appears in YouTube TV’s spot; and Danny Trejo, who is in Novo Nordisk’s ad. That finding is part of Ad Age’s annual report that evaluates how national advertisers in the game prioritized diversity and inclusion on the screen and behind the cameras.

 

Worthington said seeing so many brands fail to prioritize Hispanic viewers—especially on the biggest night in advertising when so many will tune in to watch the halftime performance of Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny—“is a signal of cultural illiteracy, not prudence.”

 

Missed opportunity to reach Hispanic viewers

 

Lisette Arsuaga, the co-president and co-CEO of DMI Consulting, a strategic marketing firm specializing in diverse segments, and the co-founder of the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM), speculated that perhaps brands felt that because Bad Bunny is performing the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, “the Super Bowl had already taken care of Hispanics.”

 

But that thinking is flawed. “If a white talent were doing the Super Bowl, brands wouldn’t be thinking, ‘Oh, I don’t have to represent whites in my ad because that’s already part of the Super Bowl,’” she said.

 

It’s not clear why exactly the majority of Super Bowl advertisers left this demographic out of their spots. If anything, the highly anticipated Bad Bunny performance should be proof of the power of Hispanic culture and talent, Worthington said, pointing to the fact that a teaser posted to Instagram for his halftime show already reeled in the most likes of any teaser for a halftime performer ever.

 

Many of our interviewees praised the NFL for choosing Bad Bunny and championing diversity while so many brands sat silently on the sidelines. As a result, “the most powerful statement” isn’t going to be made during the commercial breaks but when Bad Bunny takes the stage, said Nicole Simpson, VP of inclusion and impact at Omnicom-owned Rapp.

 

“At a moment when the Latine community is particularly vulnerable, spotlighting the world’s top global artist who is fresh off historic Grammy wins and responsible for over $400 million in economic impact for Puerto Rico, isn’t just smart business,” Simpson said, “it’s a declaration of whose stories deserve center stage and a clear signal that the league sees its future as undeniably global.”

 

Arsuaga also took issue with what she said was a misrepresentation of Hispanic culture in Instacart’s “Bananas” commercial in which the mustachioed duo of Ben Stiller and Benson Boone sing about the grocery delivery platform’s feature that lets customers choose how ripe they want their produce. The ad has drummed up some backlash as some people have interpreted Stiller and Boone’s accents in the spot as faux Hispanic.

 

An Instacart spokesperson stressed that this was not the case in a statement. “The characters are intentionally fictional and stylized, inspired by a specific musical era and genre—not by any real individual, culture or community—and any perceived resemblance in accent, attire or presentation is unintentional.”

 

Rocket’s ad promotes unity

 

There were, of course, some welcome exceptions. Rocket Mortgage continued to champion a storyline promoting inclusion and unity in its in-game spot, “America Needs Neighbors Like You,” as it did during the Super Bowl last year.

 

The spot, created by agency Mirimar, shows a Latino family moving into a seemingly unwelcoming neighborhood, set to the tune of a Lady Gaga rendition of Fred Rogers’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” A storm prompts young girls within a white and Latino family to find friendship and leads to other neighbors putting aside their differences to help each other out.

 

“These diverse characters were very intentional in the scriptwriting process—we wanted to represent America’s diversity and showcase the authentic tensions that exist in neighborhoods,” a Rocket spokesperson said. “We also wanted to show how kindness and neighborliness are a way to overcome our differences, and to remind the country that a simple hello or offer to help those who live next door brings us closer together.”

 

It seems that as other advertisers lean into humor and nostalgia, Rocket Mortgage is one of the few overtly providing a deeper message promoting unity at a time when the U.S. feels increasingly divided.

 

Still, Rocket Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Mildenhall stressed in a statement that the ad promotes “a civic message not a political message. We want to encourage intentional kindness and neighborliness,” he said.

 

Boehringer Ingelheim’s first-ever Big Game spot, starring actors Octavia Spencer and Vergara, also stands out as a good representation of Hispanic culture, some people said.

 

Kai Wright, an industry strategic adviser and lecturer at Columbia University, uses a five-point system to evaluate ads for inclusivity. The five areas he said he grades an ad to determine if it well represents the community it intends to reach, includes “lexicon,” meaning it “is doing something unique that the community would identify with”; audio cues that resonate with a particular community; strong visuals that captivate the audience; “experience drivers,” meaning the ad is reinforcing some sort of ritual a particular community can get behind; and strong cultural connections.

 

Based on this system, which he calls the LAVEC method, Wright said Boehringer Ingelheim’s spot scored high (an 89 out of 100). The pharmaceutical brand worked with the American Diabetes Association, National Kidney Foundation, WomenHeart and The Mended Hearts on a campaign to showcase the importance of health screenings.

 

Spencer and Vergara appear in the action-packed ad on a mission to help people understand how to manage high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. Wright said the actors represent Black and Hispanic women, two groups that are prone to such conditions, and they provide actionable steps to improve their lives.

 

“The ad incorporates community values of advocacy and proactive care,” Wright said. “By reframing ‘silent signals’ as a call to action, it aligns with the tribe’s desire to ‘know their numbers’ and advocate for their own health before it’s too late.”

 

Both actors were good fits for the ad because they share personal and family health histories with these conditions, he added.

 

Boehringer Ingelheim declined to comment.

 

Arsuaga also praised the ad for being one of the only so far to prominently feature a Latina celebrity. She did note, however, that she’d like to see more brands branch out and hire Hispanic talent more under the radar than Vergara, who rose to fame as a lead on the hit sitcom “Modern Family.”

 

“When people think about Hispanic talent, it’s like, Sofía Vergara is your token person,” Arsuaga said. “I don’t want to minimize her because she’s a great actor and is doing great things, but there are a lot of other people that could be used for important talent during these ads.”

17348: On Perceived Brands’ Icy Responses To ICE.

 

Advertising Age published a perspective cautioning brands targeting Latino consumers to not ignore how ICE impacts lives in the segment. In short, the author thinks brands should avoid staying silent and playing it safe when communities face pressures.

 

It’s a debatable proposition, as brands don’t necessarily benefit from taking political stances. Indeed, there are many examples of classic fails when brands publicly advocated for causes.

 

Sure, Archbishop Desmond Tutu declared, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

 

But such leaders didn’t have to contend with brand destructors like President Donald J. Trump, the Gaslighter-in-Chief behind ICE.

 

Brand silence is not necessarily siding with oppressors. Rather, it can be a sign of respect, in terms of standing clear of situations where brands have no business, so to speak.

 

Why brand silence isn’t a safe strategy when communities are under pressure

 

By God-is Rivera

 

Every major brand briefing seems to start the same way lately: Hispanic and Latinx consumers are our fastest-growing segment. The data backs it up.

 

Nielsen reports that Hispanic households represent about 14.7% of U.S. households but account for 15% of total consumer spending and 23% of U.S. dollar growth in retail. Their impact is outsized relative to their population size.

 

But there’s a glaring disconnect between how aggressively brands are pursuing Hispanic consumers and how little they’re acknowledging the lived reality of that community.

 

Today, families are navigating fear and instability due to ICE. Cultural identity is being politicized. People are making daily decisions about where to shop, travel, work, or even leave their homes under conditions many marketers have chosen to treat as “off-limits” for brand engagement.

 

You cannot build sustainable growth with a community you refuse to fully see. Here’s how to back your brand with values that resonate:

 

Growth without context is not a strategy

 

When brands say Hispanic consumers are their growth engine while ignoring the pressures shaping their lives, it reveals a dangerous assumption that purchasing power is disconnected from lived experience.

 

Everyone knows the meme-able Jet2holidays audio that became synonymous with travel fails. The brand got in on the joke and leaned in appropriately, engaging with the moment and expanding cultural relevance well beyond its traditional audience.

 

But when the same audio was later used in content depicting immigration enforcement and detainees being transported, Jet2Holidays was abruptly pulled into a far more serious conversation. They were prepared. The company responded quickly, publicly distancing itself from the usage.

 

Brands that pursue growth without understanding how cultural meaning travels, especially in volatile moments, leave themselves vulnerable to being defined by contexts they didn’t plan for. And if they don’t respond to the situation in a timely manner, or ignore it, it can be a recipe for brand-building disaster.

 

Silence is being mistaken for brand safety

 

Many marketers believe the safest move right now is to stand still. Say nothing. Delay campaigns. Shelve anything that might be perceived as risky.

 

But recent examples suggest the opposite.

 

After facing intense backlash over Pride-related merchandise, Target scaled back displays in certain markets, framing the decision as a move to protect employee and customer safety. The reaction among many consumers—particularly younger and multicultural audiences—was swift. For some, the pullback signaled retreat rather than protection. Boycotts and social media protests have cost the retailer.

 

When brands retreat entirely, consumers are far less charitable than brands expect.

 

Hispanic consumers are also more likely to research corporate policies and participate in boycotts based on a brand’s stance, with 51% participating in at least one boycott according to a study by Numerator.

 

Your fastest-growing consumer is also your most attuned

 

Hispanic consumers are deeply attuned to brand values. Further research from Numerator shows 60% of Hispanic shoppers say they would stop buying from brands that don’t reflect their values.

 

Nike has long understood that growth with multicultural audiences requires consistency in beliefs. When the brand has taken public positions aligned with its stated values, it has weathered backlash while maintaining long-term loyalty, particularly among younger, diverse consumers. While not every move has been universally praised, Nike’s audience understands what the brand stands for.

 

That matters deeply to Hispanic consumers. These audiences don’t expect brands to speak on everything. They expect them not to disappear when values are tested.

 

This moment requires cultural readiness, not crisis comms

 

Too many brands are still relying on outdated crisis playbooks. What’s required now is cultural readiness. Your brand needs to understand communities before moments erupt, to know which voices matter, and to make decisions anchored in real values.

 

From its response to global refugee crises to its clear stance against discrimination on the platform, Airbnb has invested in systems, policies, and partnerships that allow it to act quickly when cultural moments arise. These decisions were enabled by groundwork laid well before public pressure mounted.

 

Companies that have invested in this kind of readiness move differently. They respond with clarity because they’ve already done the work of understanding who they are and who they serve. But readiness doesn’t always have to be defensive. It can recognize moments of positive cultural momentum, such as HRC’s #LoveWins, and grow by showing up in ways that feel timely.

 

Growth is a relationship, not an extraction model

 

The Hispanic and Latinx community represents an enormous opportunity, but opportunity is not a one-way transaction. Growth without care is not growth. The brands that will win the future are not the ones that waited for the moment to pass.

 

They recognized a simple truth: When the community is under pressure, business as usual no longer works.

 

God-is Rivera is chief strategy officer at Burrell Communications Group

17201: Underrepresented Voices Having Their Say.

Advertising Age published another Hispanic Heritage Month perspective, imploring brands to engage underrepresented voices.

 

This op-ed comes from the CEO of Lerma Advertising, a multicultural marketing shop with historical ties to The Richards Group—now known as TRG.

 

Don’t expect any color commentary from Stan Richards.

 

Why brands must lead with underrepresented voices to grow

 

By Pedro Lerma

 

I’ve been in this business long enough to know one thing: The future doesn’t look like the past. Too many marketers are clinging to what they believe is the “mainstream,” afraid that if they lean into underrepresented voices, they’ll lose their base. But here’s the truth: The mainstream doesn’t look like it used to. America doesn’t look like it used to. And neither do the audiences driving growth. So, what to do?

 

The case for the underrepresented

 

First, we need to get real. The “underrepresented” aren’t niche audiences. They are cultural powerhouses who represent enormous growth opportunities. And the underrepresented are different for each brand.

 

Whether it’s Hispanic Americans, Black Americans, Asian Americans, women, LGBTQ+ communities or people with disabilities, they aren’t sitting on the sidelines. They’re creating businesses that drive our economy, the music we dance to, the books we read, the shows we binge, the fashion we wear, the food we crave, the podcasts we stream, the slang we speak and the movements we follow.

 

Kantar research shows that 75% of all consumers say a brand’s degree of representation influences their purchase decisions. That means when you lead with underrepresented voices, you have an opportunity for “positive spillover.” In leading with the underrepresented in stories based on universal human truths, you’re not just talking to the underrepresented—you’re deepening your connection with your legacy customers, too.

 

What holds brands back?

 

I get it; it’s not easy. In today’s environment, every campaign lives in a political context. And that makes brands and agencies nervous. But here’s the reality: staying homogeneous doesn’t protect you; it exposes you. Playing it safe is a mirage and a one-way ticket to irrelevance.

 

Some brands worry they’ll alienate their core audience. My experience? The opposite happens. When you tell a story with empathy, nuance and cultural fluency, it resonates universally. You don’t lose people; you pull them in.

 

Here’s how brands have succeeded:

 

Earn the right to tell the story

 

First, don’t fake it. I once pitched a concept about gender pay equity to an automotive client. They loved it, but believed they still had work to do internally before they could authentically tell that story. It was a humble and wise move on their part because audiences can smell performative behavior from a mile away.

 

Invite them to the table

 

Include people from the community you’re representing in your creative development and validation process. The right voices early on make all the difference.

 

Start with the story, not the segment

 

I loved this Amazon ad featuring and narrated by a user experience designer who is deaf. While I have not experienced hearing loss, Brendan’s story still moved me deeply and made me feel better about the brand. I also expect that people who are deaf or have experienced hearing loss feel seen in a deeper, more personal way.

 

Make underrepresented audiences the hero—not the afterthought

 

When Modelo celebrated Hispanic NFL players and mentorship, it wasn’t about being political. It was about empowerment.

 

Design for cultural relevance, then scale universally

 

Cheerios once told a story about an interracial family. It meant a lot to that specific audience, but it also appealed to any parent of a precocious kid.

 

Use cultural catalysts

 

With the World Cup and Olympics on the horizon, brands have the chance to consider important questions like “Will our communications follow past recipes?” or “Will we use these massive moments to feature new heroes in our storytelling?”

 

Be humble

 

Get ready for feedback—and listen. If you miss the mark, own it. Respond with humility and a willingness to grow. That’s how you build trust that lasts.

 

Leading with underrepresented audiences is a superpower, and the choice is clear: Cling to yesterday’s assumptions, or embrace tomorrow’s audiences. Those who do the latter will not only grow their revenue—they’ll be shaping the future.

 

When brands make space for everyone, everyone shows up.

17196: All Multicultural Marketer Pitches Look Alike.

 

Advertising Age published a perspective titled, “Why Hispanic Heritage Month must be more than a marketing campaign”—supporting the observation of an earlier post.

 

That is, multicultural marketers deliver cookie-cutter commentary before, during, and after every Fill-In-The-Minority Heritage Month.

 

The content in Ad Age opened by declaring, “It’s that time of the year again.”

 

Then the author regurgitated the routine plea for billable business throughout the entire year—which brands ultimately ignore every year, again and again.

 

It’s time to write a fresh brief to inspire more convincing calls for cultural commitment and crumbs.

 

Why Hispanic Heritage Month must be more than a marketing campaign

 

By Fran Leibaschoff

 

It’s that time of year again. The moment when brands suddenly remember how much they supposedly value the Hispanic community.

 

The volume goes up. Bad Bunny, Shakira, Maluma. The parrilladas light up. The sobremesas get longer. Everyone’s ready to celebrate.

 

But this year, the vibe feels different. While some are putting on their fiesta faces, others are quietly shrinking back, feeling invisible, left out or altogether forgotten.

 

And no, this isn’t about being overly sensitive or playing the novela card. This is about the very real cultural and business moment we’re in. It’s a moment when the lines between DEI and Hispanic marketing are blurred, and not in a good way. And while some brands are doubling down, others are quietly pulling back just when they should be leaning in.

 

Let’s pause for a quick reality check.

 

There are more than 60 million Hispanics in the U.S. We’re not a niche. We’re not a trend. We’re not going anywhere.

 

We’re raising families, building businesses, shaping culture and driving economic growth. We’re the youngest and fastest-growing demographic in the country, with a median age of 30 and more than 75% U.S.-born.

 

The latest data we have indicates that we are now contributing more than $ 4.1 trillion to the U.S. economy (growing at 4.4% annually). U.S. Latinos would rank as the fifth-largest economy in the world.

 

And yet, too often, we’re treated like an afterthought.

 

Hispanic marketing isn’t about checking a box or filling a quota. It’s not a seasonal campaign. It’s not charity work. It’s smart business. It’s a strategy. It’s about understanding culture, nuance, values and building authentic relationships that last.

 

Let’s also be clear. DEI is about equity and inclusion within organizations. Hispanic marketing is about connecting with real people in the real world in ways that resonate and convert.

 

They are not the same. And when budgets get tight or DEI becomes politically uncomfortable, guess which investment usually disappears first? Bingo. We’ve seen it time and again. And it sends a message, even if it’s unintentional.

 

During Hispanic Heritage Month, brands face a choice. They can show up meaningfully, not just with maracas and hashtags, but with a long-term vision.

 

Or they can sit it out. But understand what that signals to a community that shows up every single day, to work, to build, to buy, to lead, and yes, to celebrate.

 

I’ve spent more than two decades working with this audience. One thing I can tell you: Latinos are incredibly loyal. But we also notice who’s there for the long haul and who shows up only for the party.

 

So, if you’re asking what’s the right way to show up, here’s a start. Let Hispanic Heritage Month be the kickoff, not the culmination. Make it the start of a deeper commitment. Not a one-month campaign but a lasting relationship.

 

If Latinos already account for approximately $4 trillion in U.S. purchasing power in 2024, wouldn’t it make sense to allocate a proportionate share of your marketing budget?

 

After all, much of your Gen Z audience is Hispanic-born and represents the future. Hispanics are significantly overrepresented in younger demographics.

 

Yes, we know how to throw a party. But even more, we know how to build. We bring creativity, resilience, pride, and passion to everything we do. And we’re ready to stand with brands that stand with us, not just in September, but always.