Other articles by Lourdes Medrano:

Community notes Prof's drawings to benefit UA College of Architecture New OV homes must be solar-ready OV orders solar-ready home starts Council OKs $121.5 million town budget Still time to give to CFSD drive Community notes Foothills effort to save teaching jobs falls short Community notes Fundraising campaign for Catalina Foothills schools falls short

Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic

Super Bowl Sunday is going bilingual — even if just for 30 seconds.

In a tip of the helmet to Hispanics, Toyota will launch a commercial in Spanish and English before the 90 million people expected to watch the Super Tazón today.

The ad features a Hispanic father driving his young son in their hybrid Camry. The father explains how the car switches from gas to electric power, and the youngster quips: "Like you, with English and Spanish."

Marketing strategies aside, some cultural experts say the ad is a prominent acknowledgment of the Hispanic presence and its increasing buying power. Hispanics are the nation's largest ethnic minority group at more than 40 million.

And yes, Hispanics also get sucked in by the football championship hoopla. Just ask Eduardo Rodriguez, 17. On Sunday, he'll root for a Pittsburgh Steelers victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

"I watch it every year," the bilingual Rodriguez said of the Super Bowl.

Audrey Singer, an immigration fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., said the image of Hispanics is not often associated with the event.

"When we think about American football, we don't think about Latinos," she said. "When we think fútbol (soccer), we think about Latinos."

The Toyota ad acknowledges the reality is otherwise. It also speaks to the blending of cultures and the adaptation of Hispanic immigrants trying to preserve their heritage, she said. "The content of the commercial is very emblematic of where we are in this country," Singer said.

Celestino Fernandez, a sociologist at the University of Arizona, said the ad recognizes that a huge portion of Americans are bicultural and bilingual.

"Regardless of the politics, the reality is that the United States is becoming more, not less, bilingual," he said.

But Fernandez said he suspects the use of Spanish words might displease some viewers.

"Bilingualism in this country is a political issue," he said. "In most of the world it's an educational issue."

Although Toyota's is not the first bilingual TV commercial, industry analysts say the company's use of simple Spanish dialogue will break new ground at the Super Bowl.

In 2004, General Motors generated some controversy with an ad for its Chevrolet Silverado, which flashed onscreen the Spanish word for "get on" during the World Series.

So will the Toyota commercial, with its spoken Spanish, offend?

Probably not, because the message transcends race and socioeconomic status, said Gloria Bloomer, co-owner of Fuerza, a multicultural marketing agency in Tucson.

The ad touts a gas-saving, energy-efficient car, and since rising oil prices affect most people, "it touches everyone in their pocketbook," she said.

Alex Lopez Negrete, chairman of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, characterized Toyota's move as bold and said the ad probably will be effective.

"They know the Hispanic market, and they know how to move metal," he said.

Toyota already is the top automaker among Hispanics. It outranked Ford in 2004.

Carlos Martinez, general manager for Conill Advertising, the California agency that produced the Super Bowl ad, said Toyota's bilingual commercial comes after 15 years of consistent outreach in the Spanish-language market.

"It was time," he said.

Tucson teen Rodriguez agreed. He's looking forward to the commercial. "It's a good thing because the language of Hispanics gets to be heard around the country," he said.