República Can Help Diagnose Your ‘Latin Deficiency Syndrome’

What is “Latin Deficiency Syndrome?” Is it the state of not having enough South Americans on your creative team? Is it failing to create campaigns that appeal to the Hispanic demographic? Is it not knowing even a single Spanish phrase in the year 2016?

According to Miami-based indie agency República, it’s none of the above. The shop’s new campaign promoting Florida supermarket chain Sedano’s tells us that everyone can feel a little more Latin with the help of some rice and platanos.

Sedano’s, which has 34 locations in the South Florida/Orlando area, wants to appeal to young people who face the same problem no matter what race or gender they may happen to be: nobody has time to cook!

Beyond the TV spot above–which will run in both English and Spanish–the campaign includes banner ads asking us how Latin we feel today and a “Latino Meter” that promises to measure just how spicy our personal flavor might be with questions like this one:

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We may doubt the validity of the quiz, which named us “Sultan of Sabor” and reassured us that we “exude true Latin flavor.” But really, we’re just glad that everyone can come together over a shared love of prepared foods.

(Full disclosure: as a painfully white guy with Latin in-laws, I know how real this challenge can be.)

By Patrick Coffee
Source: AdWeek