The Time I Got “Racial Checked” In Mexico
Lemme tell you the story of the time I got "racial checked" in Mexico...
And the marketing lesson I learned from it.
One day (during my first visit to Mexico) when I walked with my ex-girlfriend and... her sister through the center of Texcoco…
I spotted a man sitting on the sidewalk.
He was chilling.
He probably lived there.
Anyway…
We kept on walking. But as we passed him, he looked up at me and uttered something I didn’t expect:
“Güero”
My (now ex) girlfriend and her sister burst out in laughter.
“What happened?” I asked. “Is he being racist?”
“No, you dummy,” my (now ex) girlfriend replied. “He’s being friendly. We call people ‘Güero’ when they’re light-skinned.”
I shrugged.
How was I supposed to know?
I’m a simple whiteboy.
Anyhoo…
A couple of minutes later, after we left the store and walked back…
Guess who was still sitting on the sidewalk?
The Man. The Myth. The Legend.
So I came up with a plan.
A plan to pay him back for what he deserved after exposing my whiteness in public.
I Decided To Go Full “Conquistador”!
(and I ain’t even Catholic.)
The second I stood next to him, I turned to the left… looked in his eyes… and yelled out loud:
“European Power Amigo!!!!!”
We burst out laughing. He burst out laughing. Aaaand then we ran away because we were afraid he’d come for us.
Good times.
Anyways…
At the end of the day, all the above happened because I was ignorant of Mexican culture.
How so?
If I had done 10 minutes of research I would've discovered the word “güero” is often used to describe us white folks.
Plus…
This experience taught me an important marketing lesson... which... I rarely hear on the internet.
See:
Just as people act differently across cultures…
Different Markets Have Different Behaviors Too!
Such a mind-blowing revelation, right?
Only Einstein himself could come up with this, right?
*blink*
Look:
Nowadays, most goo-roos are too focused on fluff...
The next split-test…
The next webinar presentation…
The next Facebook ad script…
While these things do help in increasing response on your marketing campaigns…
Nothing beats good ol’ “Mariana Trench” depth level research on your dream customers.
This includes knowing (and adapting to) what your prospects react to.
Which might be different across markets.
Your friend,
Michael
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