After a six-year hiatus P&G is returning to the New York Puerto Rican Day Parade and related festivities with a new and improved activation.   

The CPG giant is calling this year’s effort “bigger and bolder,” according to Kathryn Policastro, Customer Team Marketing Director at P&G. “This activation is not only an incredible way to celebrate our US Hispanic consumers, but a significant business opportunity for P&G in one of our largest markets.”  

P&G agency Blue Chip is orchestrating this year’s activation for the event, scheduled for June 9.  

In addition to a P&G float in the parade, consumers will hear P&G commercials on the market’s popular FM radio station known as “La Mega.” Also planned are point-of-sale ads in Food Town and Food Bazaar stores, and events in store parking lots.   

“New York is a key market for us, and the Puerto Rican community is an increasingly important customer and influencer base within it,” says Policastro.    

For the central image on ads and the parade float, Blue Chip drew inspiration from Puerto Rican artists, like Jean-Michael Basquiat and Juan Sanchez. The resulting imagery weaves a colorful tapestry of New York street life with P&G brand logos and Puerto Rican iconography around the head of a woman evoking the Statue of Liberty.  

In ads, that imagery will flank a lineup of brands (Tide, Gain, Ariel, Downy, Lift and Bounce) under the banners “Boricua mas brillante” (translation: celebrating the brightest Puerto Rican person) and “Supporting the vibrance of Nuyorican Pride.” Nuyorican is a portmanteau blending "New York" (or "Nueva York" in Spanish) and "Puerto Rican."