Latino Vote media campaign takes a Big Leap.

Ofrenda Inc. director, Luis Aira creates a Latino Vote media campaign featuring actors Efren Ramirez (Napoleon Dynamite) and actress Yareli Arizmendi of (A Day Without a Mexican) for Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. The SVREP media campaign targets Latino youth and will launch immediately on local and national networks in both Spanish and English languages prior to the November 2006 mid term elections.

It’s election time again and I guess voting is important or something. “It’s an honor to work with Antonio Gonzalez President of SVREP and such dedicated and talented actors. Both, Efren and Yareli understand the importance of empowering Latinos to engage in the political process and the impact their voice will make,” said Aira. The media campaign for SVREP features the actors in their movie characters with Efren Ramirez as “Pedro” from “Napoleon Dynamite” and Yareli Arizmendi as “Lila Rodriguez” from “A Day Without a Mexican.” “Pedro” tells the audience in the spot entitled “Take a Bigger Leap,” “It’s election time again and I guess voting is important or something.” He does a jump stunt on his bicycle and says, “So take a bigger leap.” The spot ends with, “Your vote is your voice,” in a personal message from Efren Ramirez.

In the spot “Final Destination,” Arizmendi as the TV news anchor “Lila Rodriguez” reports live from the immigration marches that took place on May 1st 2006. She says, “As you can see the streets behind me are filled with millions of people who are participating in this historic event! It’s an amazing sight, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before! I am here at the final destination where already hundreds of thousands of our young people have showed up determined to make their voice count. They are like one giant voice filling these streets and the message is clear.” She stands in front of Polling Station crowd where we see quick cuts of people voting and voting ballots being stuffed into a ballot box. The spot ends with a powerful message from Arizmendi as herself, “Your vote is your voice. Register and Vote. Now!”

The media campaign with Efren Ramirez and Yareli Arizmendi for SVREP, a non-profit voter advocacy organization was produced by Ofrenda, Inc., Los Angeles and developed as a creative collaboration with Creative Director Mark Gonzalez of 28 de Enero Advertising. Together, Aira and Gonzalez collaborated on numerous campaigns including Verizon for Global Hue Advertising, the HIV Aids Awareness Campaign for Kaiser Family Foundation, Rock the Vote, Sears and Sprite. The creative synergy between Aira and Gonzalez dates back to their first media campaign together where Aira directed commercials for Coca Cola with Gonzalez as Creative Director for Bromley Communications. This dynamic media marketing team is known for their ethnic and youth marketing expertise, honored with numerous awards for creative excellence including the prestigious Clio and the Latino Marketing Awards.

Major political leaders turn to Luis Aira for his Latino marketing genius including the John Kerry Campaign for President, the Al Gore Campaign for President, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, the New Democrat Network and the historic Antonio Villaraigosa Campaign for Mayor where the Latino vote exceeded all previous voting records.

Ofrenda, Inc. Executive Producer Donna Casey-Aira stated, “we are incredibly grateful to all those who helped to make this campaign a success, especially director of photography Nick Infield and Otto Nemenez International of Hollywood for their generous support and commitment. Support from Eye on the Ball Films, the Producers of “A Day Without a Mexican” and the team at Fox Searchlight Pictures was essential to making the campaign a reality. Steve Mac of Mac Sound, NYC provided the original music score and sound mix; CJ Edwards of Wheel House Editorial, Santa Monica, CA. provided post-production and telecine transfer was provided by Company Three, Santa Monica, CA.