Happy 3 Kings Day
As usual, I was digging through the snow which was actually more like hardened ice since it's been so cold late last night to look for the last bits of grass I could use for my kids to put out for the 3 Kings.
As I mentioned in my "Como se dice 'politically correct' en español" post a few weeks back, 3 Kings Day or in Spanish Dia de los Reyes or simply Los Reyes is widely celebrated in Latino cultures. Rather than cookies and milk for Santa, we put out grass and water for the camels bringing the 3 Kings to see baby Jesus.
It can be a marketer's dream, especially in areas of high Puerto Rican populations since they likely celebrate it the most in the U.S. I'm still surprised well maybe not that so many marketing people who claim they want to market to Hispanics or are actively marketing to us don't know about 3 Kings Day. This all goes back to my points about being culturally relevant in your Hispanic advertising and public relations programs ... and not just focusing on language.
Read up on it or ask some of your Hispanic employees. Here is an article in the Springfield Republican about los reyes. Also, if you have young kid's here's a coloring sheet from Sesame Street you can print out.
As I mentioned in my "Como se dice 'politically correct' en español" post a few weeks back, 3 Kings Day or in Spanish Dia de los Reyes or simply Los Reyes is widely celebrated in Latino cultures. Rather than cookies and milk for Santa, we put out grass and water for the camels bringing the 3 Kings to see baby Jesus.
It can be a marketer's dream, especially in areas of high Puerto Rican populations since they likely celebrate it the most in the U.S. I'm still surprised well maybe not that so many marketing people who claim they want to market to Hispanics or are actively marketing to us don't know about 3 Kings Day. This all goes back to my points about being culturally relevant in your Hispanic advertising and public relations programs ... and not just focusing on language.
Read up on it or ask some of your Hispanic employees. Here is an article in the Springfield Republican about los reyes. Also, if you have young kid's here's a coloring sheet from Sesame Street you can print out.
posted by latino lingo @ 9:06 AM
2 Comments:
At 12:13 PM ,
Idler said...
Worthwhile post, but I'm surprised neither it nor the newspaper article linked to made the simple and highly relevant point that the Día de los Reyes is simply the Christian feast day of the Epiphany, which is still observed by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians, at least, if not Protestant denominations.
Obviously, the significance of the day came to Latin America through Catholicism, though the local observance came to take on that peculiar character that is important for students of L.A. (and for purposes of this site, marketers) to note.
In other words, this is a characteristic Latino version of a more widely observed Christian day of observance.
At 12:25 PM ,
latino lingo said...
Good point. It is simply Epiphany by another name. Beyond the marketing mention, I am surprised how many Catholics aren't familiar with the story of the 3 Kings that is discussed in the good book ... wnless it's only mentioned in the Puerto Rican version of the bible I wasn't aware existed ;-)
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home