A man in a sombrero, a guitar, a red flower in the long mane of a black-haired woman. All of those images are routinely linked to Mexico, but are they accurate?
According to the Mexican community in Germany, they aren't. A group of expats wrote a letter to their embassy in Berlin to complain about the image given of their culture by a McDonald's commercial.
The ad, which you can watch below, wants to promote "Los Wochos," a campaign in which the fast food giant will offer their usual products in a "picante" version.
"When you turn ketchup into 'salsa picante,' your buddy into a 'muchacho' and your burger into 'chili con carne,' that means The Wochos are here. 'Olé'," says the voiceover.
And as Mexican as that can look to the German eye, it is not. The ad incurs into a slew of stereotypes of the country that are not even remotely accurate.
Mexico does not say "Olé" (which is a typical expression from the south of Spain) or eat "chili con carne" (which is a Texan dish). The word "Wochos" doesn't even exist in Mexico or Spanish as a language, being it a derivative of the German word "woche," which means "week."
"It is undermining, and it looks like they are making fun of us," said one of the complainers.
The letter was addressed to the Mexican Embassy, and asked them to interced for the image of the country. There has been no official comment as of yet.
"We are trying to work to give an accurate representation of our country, and it is outrageous that an American company comes and changes the image of Mexico that German people have," reads the letter.
"What is your right to take on a culture like this? At the very least, you should have hired a consultancy company to check that your idea is accurate."
Check for yourself:
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
