Target gets Bi-Curious. Fans Don’t go Wild.

From the textmex obsessed imagination of Daphne Strassmann

When I heard the jingle of a Target ad advertising baby things, I thought it to be a tad saccharine. How many times had I sung ” If you’re happy and you know it…”  not knowing there might be a Spanish version?  So I set out to look for the real translation of the song, if there was one, because frankly, I thought there must be a better and catchier version than the one Target had used.  I wondered what Target’s thinking had been. The novelty of the commercial was fresh enough, but for all I knew (since I don’t have regular cable) that Target made bilingual commercials all the time. I caught mine watching Mindy Kaling’s show on Hulu.

My results took me to Target’s FB page.  Target’s commercial touched a nerve, and seemingly the last nerve, of some of its customers, who took offense. For some this is an all out assault on the values and language of Americans and not an accurate representation of our demographics. There’s a range of ‘speak Spanish in your own commercials’ to “Never shopping at Target again. Ever. ”

The banter continues on FB’s pages. Here’s a taste:

This article was first published in textmex gallerblog.

William Anthony Nericcio, aka “Memo,” is the Director of San Diego State University’s ever-evolving MALAS program (The Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences)–a dynamic, interdisciplinary, cultural studies graduate program located near the U.S./Mexico border. Nericcio also serves on the faculties of the Chicana/o Studies Department, the Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of English and Comparative Literature at SDSU.This article was first published in textmex galleryblog.