Dear Gorton’s Seafood and Rinck Advertising:
I am thrilled to the gills that you took the time to respond. I am a fan of your products, and hope that they reach many more households than mine.
However, your response reveals exactly why you floundered in the first place. You mention that you “used a Spanish translation service,” and that “Spanish-speaking staff members were involved throughout the project.”
You didn’t say that you translated it yourself in-house, or that Spanish-speaking and/or Latino executives (emphasis on executives) oversaw the project.
Instead, it seems like someone internally had the idea to reach out to Latina moms but fish-farmed out the work because you didn’t have the capabilities or experience to do it on your own.
If you want to dive into the pocketbooks of the Latino community, please dive into yours first by hiring and supporting Hispanic professionals. Lots of them.
I mean copy editors, creatives, artists, web designers, and in-house executives from a variety of Latin backgrounds, so that when someone leaves an accent off of one word you have a chorus of voices on deck, under your own roof, protecting you by saying, “Hey! Where I’m from, that means ‘tits and seafood'” or, “Wait a second. My own mom’s going to burst out laughing because you’re asking her to purchase blow jobs and gay men, not fish sticks.'”
I don’t like serving sloppy seconds to my own family, and I don’t like getting served sloppy seconds myself. When I see a Spanish-language website riddled with errors and only half thought-out creatively, a pale copy of the original English-language one, that’s what I’m being offered. Latinas are notoriously loyal to brands (I’m sure you’ve seen the numbers), and even more so when there’s a measurable commitment to our community in return.
So put your money where your Potato Crunch Fillets are. Hire a few full-time Latino professionals in-house to work on All Things Gorton’s so that I can be proud to put your products in my shopping cart.
Very sincerely,
Bernadette Rivero
Bernadette Rivero is the president of The Cortez Brothers, a production company and creative development hub in Los Angeles dedicated to getting Latin culture right. She is also a mom and enjoys fish sticks.