Relaunched on 15 September during Latino Heritage Month, the latest iteration of the NFL’s season-long ‘Por La Cultura’ initiative launched led by a logo tweak and hero film supported by national and local on-the-ground activities all of which seek to act as an ode to a vibrant and diverse community and to amplify Latino voices on and off the football field.
The project rolled out through a series of NFL partnerships with players, artists, influencers and other personalities in the Latino community and aims to inspire excitement, engagement and avidity through the season.
According to the NFL, the campaign goal was not only to highlight Latino excellence in an authentic way, but also to showcase the open invitation that exists for everyone to be part of this game. Because we truly believe that football is for everyone. Football is a unifier. It brings us all together.
The core piece of launch creative is a campaign film titled ‘The Celebration’ which stars American actor, singer and songwriter Anthony Ramos (who fronts much of the activity) alongside NFL teams and players. The spot see a New York Jets jersey wearing Ramos take viewers on a journey through the vibrancy, commonalities and differences within the sport’s Latino fanbase.
The film features Latino talent in front of and behind the camera: with creative led by Lemon Andersen and Jessy Terrero of Cinema Giants and the video’s music is a track called ‘Rompela’ by Yandel, El Alfa and Will.I.Am.
As well as the spearhead spot, the NFL tweeted a logo image representing the ‘Por La Cultura’ campaign with the league’s shield including an ‘eñe’ (Ñ) accent over the ‘N’ in NFL.
Por La Cultura. pic.twitter.com/pFoGGASAWt
— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2022
The NFL initiative will continue after Latino Heritage Month with local and national activities being rolled across the entire football season.
The season-long ‘Por La Cultura’ programme includes creative influencers (such as a bespoke collection with celebrity cleat designer Marcus Rivero and an NFL Origins fashion collaboration with Mellany Sanchez and Chito with proceeds will go to local artists and their local community), exclusive tracks, mixtapes and concerts (including work with Piso 21, Dimelo Flow, DJ Camilo, DJ Livia, Sofia Reyes, and Gera MX), a ‘El Snap NFL’ content series on Instagram and non-profit collaborations (including an awards based partnership with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation) and work with grassroots clubs and teams.
Plus, in November a second spot will roll out called ‘El Juego’ to champion the NFL’s Mexico City Game between the San Francisco 49ers playing the Arizona Cardinals which will focus the conversation on cross border culture and support for football. While the 2023 Super Bowl will also see another spot to celebrate the season and Latino contributions to the sport of football.
“We are fortunate to have one of the largest Latino fan bases of any sport in this country, as well as the growing number of Latino players, personnel and legends, so it’s incredibly important to us to celebrate and elevate this rich and diverse community,” explained NFL SVP of Global Brand and Consumer Marketing Marissa Solis. “We want to make sure our overall marketing, our content, and our partnerships reflect, celebrate and serve every aspect of our fanbase, and we are excited to have focused content that showcases the contributions and impact Latinos are having on our sport.”
“This campaign was created to elevate the fanbase’s cultural impact and to celebrate that unique flavour Latinos bring to the game on and off the field,” Solis added. “We made conscious efforts to have Latino creators be part of every aspect of the campaign to ensure its authenticity. Creators came from the music, film, social, sports, and fashion world as a way to highlight and elevate Latino cultura.”
According to Solis, ‘Por La Cultura’ translates as ‘For The Culture’ in English and she also stated that the league’s “efforts to engage the Latino community are year-round and are led and created by 100% Latinos for Latinos”.
Comment
The launch of this multi-faceted, season-long initiative has been the subject of plenty of backlash from the Latino community, marketers and fans – particularly those not fully aware of the rounded, season-long programme.
Critics were quick to comment and criticise the launch social content: generating something of a social media firestorm sparked partly by the logo tweak’s misuse of a Spanish language character with accusations of ‘diversity washing’ and ‘box checking’.
♂️ #HispanicHeritageMonth pic.twitter.com/R7HHNNbGZo
— Dago Cordova (@dago_deportes) September 15, 2022
To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, the National Football League launched its "Por la Cultura," or For the Culture, campaign to honor Latino players, but after its publication on Twitter, a storm of criticism was unleashed. https://t.co/gkXTCePPEP
— KYTX CBS19 (@kytxcbs19) September 22, 2022
The copy accompanying the shield image stated: “This shield integrates an unmistakable Latin flavor and is fundamental to our always-on, 365-day initiative. 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.”
Critics also accused the NFL’s use of the term ‘Latin flavor’ as stereotyping and tokenizing.
The programme follows last year’s ‘Por La Cultura’ iteration which was also introduced through a spearhead spot and is part of the NFL’s wider ‘Football Is For Everyone’ initiative launched in 2021.
According to the NFL, the league has the largest Latino fan base of any sport in the US with 31m football fans – representing 17% of the total fanbase. It also has a growing fanbase in Latin America: particularly in Mexico and Brazil. Importantly, this Latino fan community skews younger than the average NFL fan: with 53% under 35 years of age. Plus, Latino fandom is growing twice as fast as any other segment and they tend to be ‘among the most avid and loyal fans in the league’.
According to the most recent US census data, there are 62.1m Hispanic or Latino people in the US: 18.7% of the total population).
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