Corbacho en Finlandia

Andalusia in 1 minute

Sunday December 27th, 2009. 03:50 PM. [Ads, Spain, Videos]. 6 Comments.

I just received a big package from my parents with lots of stuff: olives, Spanish ham, etc… and talking with them by phone told me about a recent TV ad about Andalusia, the south-part of Spain where I am from. The advertisement is made by Cruzcampo, a beer brand.

I added subtitles. Most of things can be applied to Spanish people in general, but I have to say that: IT is true, Andalusia, the south of Spain has something special.

Most of the statements are in metaphoric way, so I will add some explanations in brackets:

Andalusia is not where Europa ends. It is where starts.
Here is, nonetheless where The New World started. (About Cristopher Columbus)
We have sea, countryside, snow, desert (snow in Sierra Nevada in Granada, desert mostly is about Almeria).
We have cowboys (In Almeria’s Tabernas desert was filmed many American spaguetti Western films) and even English soldiers (Gibraltar, English colony)
And we have art, a lot of art. (images of La Alhambra, in Granada)
Andalusian is not an accent, it is Spanish talked among friends
And blondes are never alone, they come with ‘tapa’ (we call Pale Ale “blonde beer” because of the color, and traditional bars serves beer with some free snack)
Here we don’t eat tomatoes, we drink them (Gazpacho, cold tomato soup)
Our suits are not shown off, they are of light, (words game about “suit of lights”, i.e. the suit of a bullfighter)
And our matches always have a third time.
In Andalusia we aren’t afraid of horns, we fight them (In the picture, Picasso born in Málaga)
We don’t undo our shirt, we ript it in two. (mostly flamenco dancers, I still didn’t achieve to do that )
We don’t walk the street, we live it.
In Andalusia we don’t exagerate. It is the others that fall short. (They say that Andalusian people tends to exagerate)
We love the olive oil, the cured ham and bulbs of colors.
We love the friendship, the passion and to dream at midafternoon (siesta)
We love to the ones who went and the ones who stayed (in the picture, Camarón de la Isla, considered the best flamenco singer)
We love that art, that laugh, that pride, that breed, (breed referring to the Andalusian horse)
That green, that white. (colors of Andalusian flag)
We the Andalusian people love our land and we
make a toast to it with this beer
Cruzcampo, made of Andalusia.

Although is a little stereotyped, I liked it. We are more than 8.000.000 people and is not easy to represent us in 1 minute without falling in stereotypes. I don’t support bullfighting but my grandparents do, for example.

The funny thing is that Cruzcampo was Andalusian for almost a century and, some years ago was bought by Heineken Group and they are spending a lot of money to keep in our minds that “Cruzcampo is Andalusian”. (This ad is only broadcasted in Andalusia, not rest of Spain).

Also they are sponsors of the Spanish soccer team.

In a way it’s Andalusian, because still Cruzcampo’s factories are in Andalusia and Heineken keeps promoting the brand and the Andalusian/Spanish culture, but at the same time I can’t stop feeling fooled by the marketing department of Helsinki.

Aside of this marketing stuff, I still like more San Miguel or Alhambra beers and I can be proud that they are still 100% Spanish. Here in Finland, Karhu III it’s the one I like more, but anyway I’m not an expert.