She's no Betty La Fea

No, not this "Betty" but rather Betty Crocker who is looking to shed her 1950s Anglo housewife image by appealing to younger people ... and the growing Hispanic population.

According to a Philadelphia Inquirer article, Betty is going bilingual, with Cocina Betty Crocker: Recetas Americanas Favoritas en Español e Inglés. This in direct response to a growing request by Spanish-speaking Hispanics to learn how to make americano favorites like meat loaf and spaghetti, the article mentions.

Geared to multigenerational families where grandparents may speak only Spanish while the grandchildren are primarily English-speaking, they chose to translate the book in the most common Mexican dialect, since Mexicans make up a majority of Hispanics in the U.S.

Somehow I'm not getting a visual of Mexican grandmothers making homemade tortillas on the wood stove while simultaneously boiling agua for macarrones con queso but, hey, what do I know?

The marketing strategy is sound, however, due to the high acculturation level of non-immigrant Hispanics. (Read my Oct. 13 "Acculturation, huh, what is good for" posting)