Brand Highlights: Hispanic Heritage Month 2023

Published 05 October 2023

Author

3 min read

Brands have long treated Hispanic Americans – 19% of the US population at 63.6 million (Pew, 2023) – as a monolith. More nuanced campaigns for 2023’s Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) are correcting that approach, spotlighting diversity and distinct subcultures. We highlight standout campaigns from across beauty, retail, apparel and media.

Key Stats

General

63.6m	The Hispanic population in the US is growing quickly: it numbers 63.6 million, up from 50.5 million in 2010
19%	The overall US population is now 19% Hispanic, up from 16% in 2010 and only 5% in 1970
$2.8tn	The economic output of Latinx Americans in 2020 was $2.8tn, up from $2.1tn in 2015

Ceremonia Flags Lesser Documented Sub-Cultures: Fast-growing Latinx beauty start-up Ceremonia (founded in 2020 by New York City-based Chilean Babba Rivera, one of our 2022 Industry Insiders) commissioned six Latinx photographers for its 2023 campaign Yo Soy__ (I Am__). Their work highlights Latinx cultures and histories in the US, including Mexican-American rancheros (cowboys), NYC’s Latinx residents (more than a quarter of the city’s population) and creative Latin culture in Miami. The campaign portraits are showcased on Instagram and displayed in Ceremonia’s NYC flagship (opened in June) and its Hispanic Heritage Month pop-ups at Sephora stores in NYC, San Diego, Los Angeles and Miami.

See Embracing Intersectional Identities in Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 for Ceremonia's previous Latinx inclusivity campaigns and Latinx Beauty Launches Celebrate Traditional Culture.

Ceremonia Flags Lesser Documented Sub-Cultures: Fast-growing Latinx beauty start-up Ceremonia (founded in 2020 by New York City-based Chilean Babba Rivera, one of our 2022 Industry Insiders) commissioned six Latinx photographers for its 2023 campaign Yo Soy__ (I Am__). Their work highlights Latinx cultures and histories in the US, including Mexican-American rancheros (cowboys), NYC’s Latinx residents (more than a quarter of the city’s population) and creative Latin culture in Miami. The campaign portraits are showcased on Instagram and displayed in Ceremonia’s NYC flagship (opened in June) and its Hispanic Heritage Month pop-ups at Sephora stores in NYC, San Diego, Los Angeles and Miami.

See Embracing Intersectional Identities in Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 for Ceremonia's previous Latinx inclusivity campaigns and Latinx Beauty Launches Celebrate Traditional Culture.

Ceremonia

PacSun & Urban Outfitters Link with Artists for Capsule Collections: Southern California-based PacSun leaned into its regional identity by commissioning menswear designer Willy Chavarria, for whom Chicano (Mexican-American) aesthetics rooted in California are a primary inspiration. The Big Willy by Willy Chavarria collection of T-shirts and hoodies is accompanied online by Chavarria’s profile. A portion of the sales will go to non-profit Fresno Barrios Unidos, which supports young people in Chavarria’s Californian hometown (also profiled on the brand’s site). Some items have already sold out.

Urban Outfitters partnered with an eclectic group of eight creatives from the worlds of fashion, art, music and even food to design the Hispanic Heritage collection. The collaborators include airbrush artist Andrew Martinez (Guava), an LA-born Guatemalan American; painter Rebecca Maria, whose work is inspired by her Cuban background; and chef Paola Velez, co-founder of Bakers Against Racism.

The collection is modelled online by Urban Outfitters’ Latinx employees (see behind-the-scenes shoot footage on Instagram), and it’s donating money to La Liga Del Barrio, the first Latinx youth basketball league in Philadelphia, where the retailer is headquartered.

PacSun & Urban Outfitters Link with Artists for Capsule Collections: Southern California-based PacSun leaned into its regional identity by commissioning menswear designer Willy Chavarria, for whom Chicano (Mexican-American) aesthetics rooted in California are a primary inspiration. The Big Willy by Willy Chavarria collection of T-shirts and hoodies is accompanied online by Chavarria’s profile. A portion of the sales will go to non-profit Fresno Barrios Unidos, which supports young people in Chavarria’s Californian hometown (also profiled on the brand’s site). Some items have already sold out.

Urban Outfitters partnered with an eclectic group of eight creatives from the worlds of fashion, art, music and even food to design the Hispanic Heritage collection. The collaborators include airbrush artist Andrew Martinez (Guava), an LA-born Guatemalan American; painter Rebecca Maria, whose work is inspired by her Cuban background; and chef Paola Velez, co-founder of Bakers Against Racism.

The collection is modelled online by Urban Outfitters’ Latinx employees (see behind-the-scenes shoot footage on Instagram), and it’s donating money to La Liga Del Barrio, the first Latinx youth basketball league in Philadelphia, where the retailer is headquartered.

Pacsun

Urban Outfitters

Disney Showcases Ghetto Film School Alumni: Disney is leveraging its ongoing support of Ghetto Film School, a non-profit for aspiring young diverse filmmakers, by creating Yo Recuerdo/I Remember, a five-minute film compilation of work by the school’s alumni in honour of their Hispanic and Latinx culture. It is running across Disney platforms, including Hulu, ABC, FX, Freeform and National Geographic.

The four filmmakers, who received mentorship and equipment from Disney, discuss their memories tied to their heritage – like a grandmother’s special tamales signifying the connection between food and culture – and how these influence their storytelling.

Disney Showcases Ghetto Film School Alumni: Disney is leveraging its ongoing support of Ghetto Film School, a non-profit for aspiring young diverse filmmakers, by creating Yo Recuerdo/I Remember, a five-minute film compilation of work by the school’s alumni in honour of their Hispanic and Latinx culture. It is running across Disney platforms, including Hulu, ABC, FX, Freeform and National Geographic.

The four filmmakers, who received mentorship and equipment from Disney, discuss their memories tied to their heritage – like a grandmother’s special tamales signifying the connection between food and culture – and how these influence their storytelling.

Digging Into Philadelphia’s Rich Diversity: Visit Philadelphia’s In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union highlights the city’s role as both the birthplace of the nation (the US Constitution was signed there in 1787) and a welcoming place for all. The campaign was launched during Pride Month (June) with a film showcasing a drag queen storytime.

The second instalment, from September 15, is Hispanic Voices – an online, streaming services (Hulu, Netflix and Peacock) and social (Instagram and YouTube) four-part video series featuring 35 Philadelphians “representing 10 Hispanic and Latino cultures”, including the city’s four largest relevant cohorts: Colombian-American, Puerto Rican, Dominican-American and Mexican and Black American.

With the tagline “We are Americans bound by language, proud of our differences”, the content addresses how community members identify themselves and the significance of their identities. Key insights from their stories include the important differentiation between Latino and Hispanic heritage (not interchangeable) and the power of linguistics (Latinx vs Latine vs Latino vs Latin).

For more, see Latinx Brand Engagement Briefing and Cultural Diversity Campaigns, Autumn 2022.

Digging Into Philadelphia’s Rich Diversity: Visit Philadelphia’s In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union highlights the city’s role as both the birthplace of the nation (the US Constitution was signed there in 1787) and a welcoming place for all. The campaign was launched during Pride Month (June) with a film showcasing a drag queen storytime.

The second instalment, from September 15, is Hispanic Voices – an online, streaming services (Hulu, Netflix and Peacock) and social (Instagram and YouTube) four-part video series featuring 35 Philadelphians “representing 10 Hispanic and Latino cultures”, including the city’s four largest relevant cohorts: Colombian-American, Puerto Rican, Dominican-American and Mexican and Black American.

With the tagline “We are Americans bound by language, proud of our differences”, the content addresses how community members identify themselves and the significance of their identities. Key insights from their stories include the important differentiation between Latino and Hispanic heritage (not interchangeable) and the power of linguistics (Latinx vs Latine vs Latino vs Latin).

For more, see Latinx Brand Engagement Briefing and Cultural Diversity Campaigns, Autumn 2022.

Visit Philadelphia