Compare and Contrast the Perception of People on Spanish-Speaking Commercials on the Television

Executive Summary

Purpose: Compare and Contrast the perception of people on spanish-speaking commercials on the television.

"Cómo te sientes acerca de mi presentación en español?" Translation: How do you feel if I did this presentation is Spanish? This happens all the time in South Florida and other states with high Hispanic population. For instance, 33% of South Florida's population is Hispanic. Comcast has aired Spanish-speaking commercials on English-speaking programs. Controversy has risen with Comcast and TV producers airing increasing commercials in these large Hispanic communities. TV channels are funded by the companies airing their commercials on their channel. More viewers equal more exposure and the goal is always to capture a larger viewing community for the offered products and or services on that commercial. How far will channels go, is it really fair to air Spanish-speaking commercials on English-speaking programs?

Spanish is the second most common language in the United States after English. There are 45 million Hispanic-American people who speak Spanish as a first or second language with 6 million non-Hispanic Americans who can speak it. With over 300 million people in America, only roughly 12% of our population can understand these commercials. This leaves a large group of Non-Hispanic Americans feeling like their identities are being violated. (Ref. 3)

Americans have always enjoyed TV generation after generation. We all grew up with TV and it has played a vital role in shaping us and our society. Spanish-speaking Commercials on English-speaking channels may portray a higher Hispanic status to a non-Spanish speaking Americans watching. American's have always had this authority and power mentality in the world, our identity screams "we are number one in the world!" It can't be said that this type of thinking is fair, but we as Americans still feel this way.

According to The Washington post the vice president of Vehix.com “ Not every Latino is watching channels such as the Spanish versions of ESPN, Discovery Channel and CNN” and “It's still less than 5 percent of our total users -- more than 30,000 unique users check out Vehix.com per month -- but the increase has been more than 300 percent” which sparks up the controversy whether it’s fair for the English-speaking community to be exposed