Emilia Perez and why you should pay attention to authenticity

A few weeks ago, I was invited to be Spanish coach and cultural consultant for a big voiceover session for a Fortune 100 company. We were choosing the top talent out of an audition of 30 or so professionals.

Imagine my surprise when a few of the voiceover artists start speaking terrible Spanish with pronunciation that was clearly non-native. They were a couple of Americans that had learned Spanish as a second language.

Imagine how many steps in the chain had to go wrong for this. This talent was already part of the selects from a much larger pool of talent. They had to be vetted by the casting agency, the client (who did not speak Spanish but thought they knew enough to make these decisions) and the talent itself who knew they were not native speakers but chose to audition anyway. And probably got jobs before.

We’re talking about a huge corporation that counts first generation Latinos as a sizable portion of their retail customer base. It's actually one of their main audiences.

Conveying to all the stakeholders how big of a mistake this is, wasn’t easy.

I told them:

Imagine you are responsible for producing the new campaign for the latest model of Ford F150, a product as American as the Big Mac, to be targeted at, let’s say, the American Midwest.

Would you in a million years select a voiceover talent that was NOT a native English speaker, but rather someone that had been taking lessons in English for a year or two?

OF COURSE NOT.

This would be labeled downright offensive. The brand would be the butt of jokes all over social media the instant the campaign aired or streamed. It would be absurd.

To connect with your audience you have to gain their trust on an authentic level. So, for the life of me, how is it that American corporations are so careless when deciding to speak to the millions of Latinos in America in their language. This is not the first time I encounter this, by the way.

Fortunately, my client took the advice and went for the native speakers.

I’m not sure if anyone brought this to the attention of Emilia Perez’ director. But judging by his quotes in public and his dismissive attitude towards the subjects of his storytelling, it’s probable that he surrounds himself with people that don’t even think of this.

And they’re paying the price for it now, after being ridiculed by an entire continent. Latin America practically took their entire Oscars campaign down.

Three years ago, I was watching Sebastian Yatra perform a song from the beautiful Disney animated movie Encanto at the Oscars ceremony. I had subtitles on (apparently according to research, very millennial of me) and there was a simultaneous translation for the American audience. Keep in mind, this is on ABC, owned by Disney.

I see the word “consent” flash on the screen. I did a double take. This song was about two little caterpillars falling in love. Did they have to consent to something?

No, Sebastian had sung “con sentimiento” (with feeling). Not “consentimiento” (consent).

On a Disney property, for a Disney project about Colombia, on the biggest night of the industry. Come on!

If first generation Latinos are important to your company’s marketing, do yourself a favor and take authenticity and cultural context seriously. Not just when it comes to language, but music, the authenticity of the stories and of those acting them.

This is not a political statement; it’s simply good business. .