Friday, April 17, 2009



Must not mention that Mexicans tend to be short



We read:
"Mexico is protesting what it says is a whopper of an insult after Burger King has run an advertisement featuring a spicy little Mexican wrestler.

An advertisement for Burger King's Texican Whopper burger that has run in Europe shows a small wrestler dressed in a cape resembling a Mexican flag. The wrestler teams up with a lanky American cowboy almost twice his height to illustrate the cross-border blend of flavours. "The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican," a narrator's voice says. The taller cowboy boosts the wrestler up to reach high shelves and helps clean tall windows, while the Mexican helps the cowboy open a jar.

Mexico's ambassador to Spain said on Monday he has written a letter to Burger King's offices in that nation objecting to the ad and asking that it be removed. Jorge Zermeno told Radio Formula that the ads "improperly use the stereotyped image of a Mexican".

Source

9 comments:

The Times Observer said...

You know, it's funny because the little Mexican in the picture doesn't seem to mind being short while he's standing next to those women.

It reminds me of what Mickey Rooney once said while standing next to Jayne Mansfield, whose cleavage was the same height as his eyes.

"Who wants to be tall?"

And I think that's what the Mexican man is saying to himself in this picture.

To see that video, here it is.

http://www.nbc.com/golden-globes/video/clips/jayne-mansfield-and-mickey-rooney/51196/

mcnasty said...

"Jorge Zermeno told Radio Formula that the ads "improperly use the stereotyped image of a Mexican"."

I wonder what the proper use of a sterotyped image of a Mexican would be? Maybe a Mexican sitting, leaned against a tree with his sombrero pulled down over his eyes?

Stan B said...

Bobby,

First, the Average Mexican male is around 5'5.7" (167 cm) tall. The Average American male is 5'9.4" (176.3cm). Even the Average Mexican-American comes in a full 1.5 inches taller than his Mexican counterpart at 5'7.2" (170.6cm). So this isn't a "Stereotype" - Mexican Men are shorter on average than American Men. [source]

That being said, the most probable underlying cause of the stature difference is the lower economic strata that most of Mexico occupies, and the associated nutritional deficiencies. They're short because of poor nutrition commonly associated with poverty.

If the Mexican Government were truly concerned about this issue, they'd spend their time fixing their country's economy (rampant corruption, oppressive business rules, etc) instead of complaining about an add that MOST Mexicans will never see for a product that MOST Mexicans probably can't afford.

Anonymous said...

So what's the proper use of the stereotype of a Mexican?

Bobby said...

I stand corrected, Stan B.

Anonymous said...

That's a great picture.

I bet that guy was a mortgage manager for Lehman Brothers and the girls are members of the UNC track team.

That would indicate the photo is of:

* A cunning runt

surronded by:

* A bunch of running c**ts!

Anonymous said...

This doesn't make much sense.
The ad specifically said that the taste included a little Mexican - ie a small amount of south-of-the-border spicyness.
Using a tall Mexican wouldn't have communicated the clear meaning and intent.

The Times Observer said...

Teato plentes, that was what my comment was about!

I don't think this guy is upset that he's short when he has such a great view!

Anonymous said...

Stan B, do you recognize that the Wikipedia reference for Mexico was for only a single state, Morelos, and that Morelos has an unusually high indigenous population which is typically shorter than the Mexican average? Did you also notice that the stat for Morelos is several years earlier than those for the USA?

Careless use of statistics.