• by Karl Greenberg , May 8, 2009

Tecate, Heineken USA's Mexican Cerveza, is pitching its light beer to first- and second-generation Mexican-Americans with a dual campaign -- one in English and the other in Spanish.

The Spanish-language campaign -- aimed at recent immigrants from Mexico -- takes a humorous approach, with parents castigating their son for drinking watery light beers. The English-language ads celebrate the influence of Mexican-Americans in U.S. culture. The creative, which also includes dual-language radio and out-of-home, was developed by Tecate Light's New York City-based agency-of-record, Adrenalina.

The Spanish-language ads, titled "Papás", are a continuation of last year's campaign, in which a set of worried Mexican parents try to convince their adult son to drink only full-flavored light beers, like Tecate Light.

The effort, under the tagline "Para los que quieren más" (For those who want more), features TV ads to air in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

All of the spots have the same father and mother on a couch in front of the fridge, talking directly to the camera as if to their son. In one spot, the father tries to make his son feel ashamed by telling him that friends and neighbors have taken to calling him "aguador" (water boy's dad).

In another, the father shows a photo he found of the son with his friends drinking generic light beers. As his mother weeps, the dad suggests that lesser light beers are a "slippery slope" that will ultimately lead to girly drinks like fruity piña coladas and cantaloupe margaritas.

In the third spot, the parents compare the difference in flavor between Tecate Light and another light beer to jalapeño and a bell pepper, with the mom punctuating the point by using the light beer to water her plant. The ads will air on Univision, Telemundo and Telefutura affiliates.

The English-language campaign, "Changes," takes an entirely different tack with creative reviewing how Mexican-Americans and Mexican culture have influenced American culture.

One spot features boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya, with whose promotions company Golden Boy Tecate has a marketing relationship. The ad shows de la Hoya winning, with voiceover: "We changed boxing with a champion both sides could root for." The ad then shifts to shots of jumping low-rider cars, with the voice saying: "We changed cars by making them dance to our own beat."

The ads will air on ABC, CBS, CW, Fox and NBC in similar markets.

The brand's media buying and planning agency, MediaVest, will be responsible for placing the ads, which will run through the first quarter of 2010.

Tecate brand steward Carlos Boughton says the point of a bifurcated campaign was "to keep the same overarching message about character and a flavorful light beer, but also that if we want to give a relevant message to different and distinct groups of consumers the message needs to be different."

He explains that the Spanish-language ads are targeted to recent immigrants who realize that the U.S. market is largely about light beers. "Over 50% of the industry is light beer, so as they get here and become more comfortable with and consume it -- not because of taste preference but because light beer is ubiquitous -- it's what everyone does."

The media buy for English-language markets is heavier in places like San Antonio, Texas, and Albuquerque, N.M., with large Hispanic populations, most of which are second- or third-generation.