H FOR HUMOR. Interestingly a lot of marketers think about Hispanics as lighthearted and festive people that like to celebrate and have fun but they forget all of this when it’s time to create communication targeting Hispanics and a lot of them consider that humor can become an issue when targeting to the Hispanic consumer. 

The reason? Probably more than one. Maybe a lot of campaigns adapted from the general market and that kind of humor hasn’t been well received by Hispanic consumers that didn’t find them as funny as their general market counterparts do. That doesn’t mean Hispanic are serious people, maybe is just a different sense of humor and we laugh at different jokes. 

Another myth is the need for Hispanics to be educated. That means for marketers to eliminate any kind of humor from the communication and focus in very serious and didactic messages.

Another reason? Marketers, most of them Non-Hispanics, are afraid of hurting sensibilities and humor sometimes makes people push the limits and become "politically incorrect".

Let’s finish with my favorite reason. It’s easier to make serious campaigns that humoristic ones when you don’t know your target very well.  If you knew them you would know how powerful laughter is for connecting to Hispanics but also, how to make them laugh.

Your comments? Your reasons? Your disagreements? Your favorite campaigns targeting Hispanics with humor? Do you thing Hispanic humor is different?

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Humor is relative and subjective, of course. But when it comes to the cultural differences between Latinos and other segments, I think our kind of humor is more cynical and daring. We find humor in every possible situation. For example, after the 1985 Earthquake in Mexico City, the first jokes about it spawned only days later. This is in no way a lack of respect or anything like that. It could possibly be a way of coping with adversity.

Also, Latinos sometimes see American humor as silly and inoffensive. As anything else in our life, we like to spice it up and make it more daring. Take a look at "Albures" (or play on words) that is an mental exercise with the only objective of coming on top of your friends and have fun at their expense. You need to know how to alburear to get it. 

I've heard so many times from both sides (Latino and Non-Latino) that they either don't get the others' jokes, or that they are offensive. It is a matter of relevancy.

The picture above is funny to me.

But I'm sure it wasn't for the bull, or for the bullfighter that is about to be crushed by a 500 lb. domesticated ungulate.

The best jokes to you, are the ones that take something very familiar and twist it to have an unexpected outcome. And that, my friend is funny.

But then again, who's the owner of funny?

Aldo  Quevedo.

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Humor is how we deal with many stressful situations. To many people it may seem as insensitive or irresponsible, but it's just a practical way of dealing with stuff. A recent example was with the swine flu crisis in Mexico. Among all the tragedy and chaos, we were able to include our sense of humor to the whole "aporcalipsis" with creative flu masks.

I also remember a story where a friend and myself were goofing around in a clothing store in Houston. I was telling him that he should go to the "extra chubby section" to look for something in his size, while he was telling me to go to the kid's section to see if something would fit me (I was skinny then). All of a sudden a security guard came behind us and asked if everything was OK. It seemed that the store assistant called security because she thought we were about to start a fight with each other because of the name-calling. The way we kid around or joke among ourselves seems extremely rude or insensitive to others. Next time I call my friend a "marrano", I'll make sure there are no cops in the area. 

AMM

Humor is subjective.  But, it is key to have an element of truth to it.  This is the whole idea behind shows like SNL and Mad TV.  The real difficulty is in being humorous to everyone.  Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don't, depending on the audience.   Knowing who your audience is, like any good comedian, makes the difference in hearing laughs or crickets.  People are naturally grouped by commonalities weather it be cultural, behavioral, political, professional, etc.  Understanding those commonalities is the key to finding the funny bone. 

Special K

Who is the keeper of humor? Sometimes humor seems very subjective and different cultures, countries, groups, affiliations, etc may find certain things funny while others don't. Many times I watch general market commercials that they suppose to be funny and I don't laugh. May be I lack the history, the culture, the experiences, etc that can bring that laugh on me. The same is when somebody tells a joke in Spanish or we see a funny Spanish ad that someone who does not speak the language does not understand... even if you try to explain it, use examples, comparisons, etc. So, who decides what's funny or what's not? Who's the humor police? It is only the unexpected joke the one that will make you laugh or an old, recurrent joke will have the impact expected? Then, is humor a question of language or a question of cultural baggage? 

Now, when it comes to humor and sexual innuendos, things get more complicated. It seems to me that us, Latinos, we tend to be more playful around the "sex" topic. In the US, people control themselves a lot and they are very careful about sexual innuendos, however, for us, those are very common, everyday jokes that come from our playful nature and our inner child (teen in this case). So, if you are not part of the culture, it is really hard to understand this way of thinking and the use of words in a humorous environment.

So, why some people feel the right to determine what's funny to me or to the Hispanic consumer, for that matter, if they don't come from my same background, history, experiences, etc? I, the consumer, am the only one that can decide what's funny and what's not.

VP