HBO Latino On-Air ‘Habla’ Campaign.

HBO Latino has created a unique and entertaining on-air “Habla” campaign that showcases fresh voices from the Hispanic community and provides a very candid look at how U.S. Latinos see themselves today — not how they are depicted in the media.

Interspersed throughout the day on HBO Latino, the vignettes consists of 34 very humorous and sometimes moving clips that speak directly to the cultural diversity of Hispanics in the U.S. The performances, ranging from 30 seconds to 2 minutes in length, target the Latino experience and deal with issues like what it’s like to speak with an accent, cross-cultural dating, the growing popularity of “Spanglish,” stereotypes, hair relaxants, catcalls, body images — and even the strange fascination Latinos have with pork.

The performers in the campaign range from unknowns to comedians, poets and actors chosen during a recent open casting call. Some of the talent showcased includes comedians Eric Nieves and Jenny Saldana, Marilyn Torres (from the group Nuyorical Rule), Alba Sanchez (writer of “The Bronx Project”), La Bruja (“Def Poetry” and “BoogieRican Boulevard”) and Armando Riesco (US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen).

“The challenge for us was to find a different way to tell stories that would impact U.S. Latinos — from those born in and outside of the United States to the generational gaps and even language-barriers within Hispanic households. These interstitials capture the attention of Latinos in a way that has never been seen on television before,” said Elaine Brown, vice president, creative services at HBO.

“We decided to do an open casting call to find Latinos of all shapes, colors and backgrounds who could speak openly to the camera, tell us their stories and tackle issues that the media is not addressing,” said Alberto Ferreras, director of the “Habla” campaign. “This campaign really shows that being Latino is more than just speaking the language, it honors our experiences and differences too.”