THE SUPER PARADOX

By Pablo Buffagni – BBQ Agency

We share the exclusive column from CIRCULO CREATIVO for LatinSpots with Pablo Buffagni, President and Creative Director of BBQ Agency, and Creative Director of one of the first bilingual and bicultural commercials created by a Hispanic agency for the Super Bowl, by Conill for Toyota in 2006.

In this column, he shares his predictions for the 2024 edition of the most relevant event for the global advertising industry and also analyzes the relationship between Hispanics and football, especially the NFL big game.

“Beyond providing a prediction about what we will see in terms of advertising at the Super Bowl this year, I would like to analyze the relationship between Hispanics and American football, especially the big game.

I believe there is a phenomenon similar to what happens with Hollywood, movies, and series.

We all know the importance it holds for Hispanics; it’s evident that more representation is needed, but many factors work against it. Additionally, there is undoubtedly a strong prejudice from both environments, the Super Bowl, and Hollywood.

The contradiction in Hollywood is clear: the numbers from the Motion Picture Association have shown for years that Hispanics are proportionally the most interested audience in going to the cinema to watch movies, by far. A similar situation occurs with the demand for streaming series. However, on-screen representation of Latin or Hispanic figures is less than 6%, according to a study conducted by UCLA in 2022. And not to mention award ceremonies, which Hispanics still watch, but increasingly reward fewer Latinos.

Regarding football, don’t think I’m talking about the representation of Hispanic players because I understand it doesn’t go beyond 1% (I imagine, without knowing much about the subject, that it has much to do with physical build and the cultural tradition of the sport). I refer to the audience. We all know that every year more Hispanics are interested in watching the sport, especially the Super Bowl and the halftime show. Last year’s numbers showed that, in proportion to their universe, Hispanics even declared higher intention to watch the event on TV than the rest of the population. Any opportunity for a family and friends’ gathering in front of the TV is significant. Furthermore, this year will be the first time it is also broadcast in Spanish, through Univisión.

However, considering the interest of Latinos in music and entertainment, the halftime show features Usher, Reba McEntire, Post Malone, and Andra Day. It couldn’t be further from the Hispanic audience. Clearly, the era of seeing Shakira and JLo has faded.

If we talk about advertising, there are teasers nowadays, but it’s not as common to release the complete commercial or advertising action in advance anymore, as VW did in 2011 with its Star Wars spot that became historic. However, in the teasers that have had more promotion so far, there doesn’t seem to be much Hispanic participation. In these teasers, I also see a big paradox. You have a wonderful spot from last year, the one from the NFL with Diana Flores (paradoxically created by 72andSunny), showing that the league and its global marketing leader Marissa Solís are interested in the subject. But according to teasers for this year, in a category like sports betting, where there is known and proven extreme growth potential in the Latino audience, the protagonists of the commercial are the farthest from the Hispanic audience you can think of: actor Vince Vaughn, ex-player Tom Brady, and to top it off, an ice hockey player, Wayne Gretzky. FanDuel, another sports betting site, also doesn’t seem to have much intention of Hispanic relevance, judging by the teaser with Rob Gronkowski and John Cena (although the latter may have some connection due to wrestling), presented by Wieden+Kennedy. To make matters worse, clients like Toyota, who know the importance of their Hispanic audience very well, have decided not to participate this year (in the English broadcast, I don’t know about Univisión). At least VW is back, with a spot that will talk about its history in the United States. I wonder if they will at least nod to the importance of the Vocho (Beetle) for those of Mexican origin? I don’t think so, but hopefully. I have more faith in multicultural representation in what Kia will do, as the agency David & Goliath is from Los Angeles and understands these issues. Besides, they are promoting an electric model, a little late to the game when the trend is declining; perhaps they need to acquire new buyers who consider it and Hispanics would be an opportunity. Coors will also be in there, I haven’t seen what they will do, and I wonder what would happen in today’s reality if Hispanics were represented in Bud Light campaigns as they were in the past when there were major Hispanic agencies producing several of their commercials. More backlash? It’s possible. One must not forget that a large part of this contradiction could be based on the country’s political trajectory in recent years and the growing prejudice in part of the population.

Personally, as a fan of the automotive category, I am excited to see what Goodby, Silverstein & Partners will do for Kawasaki, what has already been mentioned about Kia and VW, and I am disappointed that other major automakers that used to be there will no longer be part of it, especially Toyota. Another contradiction is that the efforts of Kia and VW are focusing on electric cars when sales are starting to decline for various reasons, and Hertz has just returned all the Teslas.

In conclusion, Hispanics increasingly like American football and the Super Bowl, even though less than 1% of players are Latinos. In the past, they had greater representation in both advertising and entertainment during the event. It is the first time Univisión will broadcast the game, and we don’t know what will happen this year with the English Super Bowl ads, but we can see that there are categories where the growth potential is very significant, yet the relevance for Latinos seems to be lacking, just like with the halftime show.

And yet, like with the movies, the Hispanic audience keeps growing. That is the super paradox. My questions to you are: is it a matter of low self-esteem of the Hispanic audience? Are brands afraid of getting into trouble due to anti-immigrant prejudices? Or is it a great missed opportunity?

I can only speculate based on what I have seen in my career firsthand in the past: when my clients genuinely bet on having Hispanic relevance in advertising messages, with good foundational research, and with agencies and creatives who understood the nuances of the audience, the result was always extremely positive. We even led some brands to lead the entire U.S. market, not just the Hispanic one.