Social media users were ruthless in lambasting the NFL for unveiling an advertising campaign aimed at the Latino community.
The NFL unveiled its second annual “Por la Cultura” campaign to celebrate Latino Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15. As part of the campaign, the NFL debuted an alternative logo with an accent mark over the letter N, which the league claims adds an “unmistakable Latin flavor” to its campaign. Twitter users were not amused, and blistered the league for blatantly attempting to pander to Latinos.
“The league is proud to celebrate Latino Heritage Month by highlighting NFL players, coaches, and staff while partnering with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement,” the NFL said on Twitter. “We look forward to continuing collaborations with Latino creators, artist, and writers. We are here to AMPLIFY THE VOICES of the Latino Community on and off the FOOTBALL FIELD.”
The league also included a photo in its tweet highlighting the accent mark. “This shield integrates an unmistakable Latin flavor and is fundamental to our always-on, 365-day initiative,” the NFL wrote. “The electric brush stroke of the ‘eñe’ is filled with an infectious personality that is carried out through the rest of the look and feel.”
Twitter users did not hold back in roasting the NFL.
“Well at least @nfl isn’t using ‘Latinx’ this time,” conservative activist and former Congressional candidate Matthew Foldi tweeted, including a screenshot of the league’s “Latinx History Month” tweet from 2021.
“They literally just swooshed a clip art tilde on the shield, I’m dying,” SB Nation Los Angeles area soccer reporter Alicia Rodriguez mocked. “Way to spend 7 seconds on this.”
“It’s wild how massive corporations that spend millions on PR still don’t seem to employ one person whose job is to just look at everything first and say ‘yeah they’re gonna roast you online for this,’” Arkansas sports reporter Tyler Cass tweeted.
“delete this por favor,” Alex Medina, a creative for Lebron James’ “Uninterrupted” brand wrote.
“We’ll now be known as Forward Madisoñ,” U.S. soccer league club Forward Madison FC replied.
“The gringos are at it again,” writer Juan C. Reneo replied.
“I’m scared that I don’t see the unmistakable Latin flavor,” cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz tweeted.
“Eñe efe ele? No mames, someone in the @NFL’s marketing dept. woke up this morning and threw this together in 30 minutes because they forgot about Hispanic Heritage Month,” social media manager Anna Gallegos-Cannon opined. “Way to phone it in, eñe efe ele.”
Several users also shared memes from the TV show “The Office,” in which character Ryan Howard draws a tilde on a bottle of lemonade then places it next to a sign that reads “Mexican lemonade.”
Same energy https://t.co/rKvmpYYREs pic.twitter.com/wrZsnCsvnx
— Daniel Lacy (@DanielFLacy) September 15, 2022
The NFL unveiled a similar campaign last year for “Latinx Heritage Month,” using the gender-inclusive neologism “Latinx,” a term which only 2% of self-identified Latinos use and a plurality of Latinos, 40%, said was offensive in a recent survey, as The Daily Wire reported in June.
“With a large and passionate Latinx fanbase, as well as a number of Latinx NFL players, personnel, and Legends, the NFL and its clubs are committed to celebrating the diverse cultures within the Latinx community,” the league wrote in a press release announcing the 2021 campaign. “The campaign introduces a new tagline, ‘Por La Cultura,’ signifying how the NFL aims to champion the diversity and vibrancy of its fans, players, and personnel. The league will also incorporate a simple, hand-drawn tilde over the N in the NFL shield, a nod to the Spanish language and the Latinx community.”