Televisa fighting the economic crisis with spots

Today on You Tube I found a very interesting video, that full fills me with uncertainty, not only because I can’t find out the clear and deep purpose of it but because I can’t either find out how they arrived to produce this poor content. Televisa, the biggest television company in Mexico, after the crisis has produced one minute spot, address to all the Mexicans, in which it invites them to bear and fight the economic crisis.

Several soap opera actors and show hosts, both men and women, dressed in costumes in front of a white back address some words of encouragement to the audience.

Piano and Violin music sound in the back of the voices raising its emotion at the end.

The actors pronounce a speech on turns, going from medium close ups, to close ups ending with a wide shot with all of them and some kids dressed in white.

The actors seem to be chosen by their popularity among the audience, most of them have a prime time show, also by the behavior in their private lives (some cases), they are an example for the society, good people, good husbands and wives, good mothers and fathers…. (tear)

Spot Test

- Today the world is crossing a very huge economic crisis, which is also affecting Mexico.

- But no matter how huge it is, it will never ever be as big as us.

- Think about it. It doesn’t exist a single moment in our history where a problem has been greater than our heart.

- And even less that all our hearts united.

- Of the earthquakes we have risen

- We have come out of floods.

- And from the other economic crises, we have recovered. How?

- Doing what we know to do better than nobody.

- To jump into it with both feet; with all our heart.

- So today when you listen somebody saying that this economic crisis is very huge

- Answear, that greater is the love for our country, greater is the desire to give our children a better future than we never ever had.

- Very greater it is our effort

- And Gigantic it is our heart

- For Mexico!!!

The tautology comes from the original text; it is full of repetition and colloquial expressions, it has been simply written, to be understood by everybody. It seems to be address to an audience with low education profile. The text is read with passion and emotion. All the speech makes allusion to: us (Mexicans), heart (Mexican Heart) and makes reference to mayor natural disasters in Mexico.

The spot, due to its patronizing content has caused numerous reactions:

1. Indignation among the public.
2. Laughs.
3. Some have just ignored it.
4. And curiosity among the people who cannot understand its purpose.

The only purposes I could find were: the reduction of taxes for the company, and to fulfill its social responsibility duty.

It looks like Televisa trust blindly in the Hypodermic Needle Theory (implied mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on their audiences) The Mexican audience is used to this kind of spots, this doesn’t mean they have the wished effect on them, and it has been shown by the reactions.

This sort of spots have been produced and transmitted since the television arrived to Mexico, so the audience is well trained and becoming more critic about them; one example is Solidaridad 1992 (that where spots produced to communicate to the audience the benefits of this governmental program, but they were surely more subtle and better written)

So Televisa you should better chose the words you address to your audience, hire professional employees if your aim is to brainwash people in favor to the goverment in the presidential chair, you’re disappointing me, I though you were really committed with research, or is only useful to try Soap Operas and Reality Shows? Please show some respect to your audience.