One prominent stereotype surrounding Hispanics in advertisements is the overtly sexual depiction of the female figure. This portrayal has plagued Hispanic advertisements since the 1930s. Carmen Miranda, the “Brazilian Bombshell”, starred in ten successful Hollywood and Broadway musicals, each featuring advertisements of Miranda posing in massive headdresses decorated with tropical fruit and exotic flowers. She also wore dresses that were covered in frills and bright colors, and showed off her spicy Latina figure. These misrepresenting images Miranda portrayed were perceived negatively by the Hispanic community and were considered an obnoxiously colorful exaggeration of their culture (Larson).
In 1944, this stereotypical image was adopted by the popular produce brand, Chiquita, and was subsequently named Miss Chiquita. Dik Browne, creator of the original illustration of Miss Chiquita, drew her as a seductive animated banana complete with a fruit hat, matching red flamenco dress, and high heels (Chiquita Brand). She was featured in many animated shorts, as well as all of the company’s commercial advertisements.
In addition to being visually similar to Carmen Miranda, Miss Chiquita also spoke and sang her famous “I’m Chiquita Banana” jingle with a very thick accent (Nuiry). She was depicted as a banana until 1987, when artist Oscar Grillo, creator of the Pink Panther, revamped her into a woman (Chiquita Brand).
The result of this occurrence is evidence that the Chiquita advertisements had some form of impact on the public’s perception of Hispanics. The physical change in appearance from cartoon to human ultimately reflects the perceived image that the public had of Miss Chiquita as a woman. The upgraded Miss Chiquita is visually more alluring than the animated figure, solely due to having actual human features and not just drawn in the likeness of such a thing.
Frito Bandito
One main example an ethnic stereotype conflict in advertisement can be shown with the cartoon character Frito Bandito. Frito Bandito was a Mexican thief, with a “catchy” song who stole bags of Fritos because they tasted so good. The character was animated to resemble a Mexican American that had a distinct and heavy accent. To make him seem more like the Mexican ethnic group, he was also depicted wearing a sombrero, long mustache and bullets crossing his chest.
Frito-Lay created many print ads, television commercials and popular branding images that ran all over the nation for several years. Tired of the offensive racial depictions, The National Mexican-American Anti-Defamation Committee organized a boycott that eventually helped end the offending cartoon character. The committee specifically asked for Frito Bandito to be off the airwaves and out of Life Magazine.
