Free Essay About Targeting Hispanics

Maxwell and Jacobson, the authors of “Targeting Hispanics,” provide an insight on the controversial issue revolving around ethnic segmentation of the alcohol and cigarette market. The authors reveal that there is a segregated and segmented advertising campaign towards the Hispanic community. They claim that the alcohol and cigarette company have introduced advertising campaigns to promote the consumption of alcohol and cigarette to the Hispanic community. Consequently, the rates of drinking and smoking among women and young people have increased because they have been the main targets of the advertising campaigns. Traditionally, woman and youth in the Hispanic community are known for having low rate of alcohol consumption and cigarette use (Maxwell and Michael 98). Therefore, to convert them into the potential consumers, the alcohol and cigarette companies have increased advertisements that target these two groups.
Although the involved companies have denied the claim of targeting the Hispanic community, the authors have produced evidence to show that these companies are targeting the community. The alcohol and tobacco companies have denied the allegation stating that their advertisements aim to retain the market share and to stand ahead of their competitors. However, the authors claim that the companies are losing their best customers, and they are subsequently, targeting the Hispanics as the new market to foster their survival. According to the article, the slogan, “The Decade of the Hispanic,” was developed by Adolph Coors Co., a beer brewer company. Consequently, the slogan has increased the connection between the company and the community and hence boosting the sales of the company to the Hispanics (Maxwell and Michael 99).
Although the authors have produced necessary evidence, it is not sufficient to show the connection between Hispanic community and alcohol and cigarette companies. The authors have given one side of the argument because they have not shown whether such companies produce adverts that target other groups. For instance, are there black or white personalities in their ads? Another setback of this article is that the authors assume that Hispanic communities’ behaviors are only influenced by the companies. Therefore, the authors could have collected the primary data, such as by interviewing the affected Hispanics, in order to make a conclusion that they are heavily influenced by the smoking and drinking adverts.
In conclusion, this evidence is not persuasive enough to show the close link between the Hispanics’ smoking and drinking behaviors and the adverts. Other factors such as lack of awareness of health issues resulting from the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes could have been major contributing factors. In addition, there is no evidence that only Hispanic community is segregated by the alcohol and cigarette ads. The author could have shown the connection between these companies and other groups to support that there are segregation and target for the Hispanics.

Works Cited

Maxwell, Bruce, and Michael F. Jacobson. "Targeting Hispanics." Marketing Disease to Hispanics: The Selling of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Junk Foods. Washington: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1989. 98-104. Print.