The argument in favor of Spanglish.

SPANGLISH…. it’s always been here, now it’s "a thing". However, in the world of Hispanic advertising, this not-so-new language is struggling to land.

Is Spanglish a language?

Spanglish is unofficially the language most used by Latinos in the US and in most Spanish speaking countries as well. Like it or not, this is a fact. Don’t believe me? Try eavesdropping on any group of Latinos and you’ll see what I mean.

There are very ligitimate reasons why it exists.

Early arrivers begin using it while undergoing the acculturation process, and then pretty much never stop. While 2nd and 3rd generation Latinos hold on to it because some things are best said in English while speaking Spanish, and vice versa. There’s a certain ‘je’ ne se sais quoi’ about finding the best word or expression from two separate languages to express one perfect sentiment. Language 'purists' will violently argue against this phenomenon claiming the disintegration and ultimate ruin of the language, even though I catch them speaking Spanglish just as much as everyone else!

This McDonalds ad is perfect example of a dead-on Spanglish ad.

Oddly enough it's been the general market agencies and not the Hispanic agencies who have far more cleverly incorporated Spanglish into ads.

In advertising, Spanglish is tricky and even more controversial, mostly due to the pesky academics that snuck into Hispanic ad agencies as proofreaders and editors. These language “experts”, often functioning as faux copywriters, actually stunt the growth of Hispanic advertising by arguing that we must stick to pure Spanish and not create linguistic magic with ‘liguistic mashup’ ad campaigns that are actually great, more likable and realistic, not to mention that they sell more product.