In 1998 I thought I saw the first and last of a silly campaign involving a dog and a fast food joint. When it comes to Taco Bell, you either love them a lot or hate them a lot. The same goes for their still-thriving Chihuahua spokesperson, Gidget. Many have taken the privilege of renaming the dog to Dinky, perhaps after an ornery animated dog from 1914. If you watch the short film, you will see that the film actually has Italian stereotypes. Some people want to see the dog die from overeating. Some worship the dog as a new pop icon. Then there are those who have discovered one more media battle over the use of the Latino image.

Similar to the recent complaints about Jar Jar Binks of Star Wars fame, many would like to reduce the offensive part of the image to how it speaks. Dinky is bilingual with a heavy accent. Jar Jar speaks with a pseudo Caribbean accent similar to pidgen patois. To understand why we must be defend the Latino image, we can examine the stereotype of the African-American. This stereotype has formed a unique American folk art. It has become a genre of advertising, folk tales, and children's stories. It defined careers and eventually destroyed reputations. The American Negro was a dancing, shuffling, and amicable creature that needed guidance and control. The jolly or threatening media image of the African-American was the only exposure to that culture for many people. One long lasting effect on the media is the tradition of African-American actors remaining in comedic or criminal roles. My father once told me of a fifty-year-old man who was in his race-relations class in the 1970s. The man had only recently realized African-Americans did not have tails. If he had never been exposed to diverse people, media, and literature, then another 50 years would have passed with him following people around in the mall looking for tails. The wildman/buffoon archetype affects the dignity of all dark skinned Latinos.

Taking offense at the mere appearance of an accent, however, comes close to self-hatred. An accent exists for anyone who is new to the English language. Bad media or self-hatred should not demean it. Obviously, a combination of a thick accent, criminal activity, and poverty in a regular media image can lead to a horrendous stereotype. Nevertheless, people have accents, and animated creatures new to English might have one as well. While some complaints against the image of Dinky are thin, providing very little information other than the dog talks Spanish and is offensive - others are more explicit. One person found it offensive because "gordita" means, "fat pregnant woman in the kitchen". While this can be the definition in some Spanish dialects, "gordita" is usually a diminutive form of "fat". On top of that, the dish actually exists in Mexico. The oddly insensitive part is the repeated use of revolutionary symbolism. The image of the Chihuahua wearing the same type of beret and patch that Che Guevara wore seems the most blatant. Che was the guerilla warrior second only to Castro in the Cuban revolution. Obviously, Cuban-American dissidents are not pleased to have his image used so lightly. There are also scenes where Dinky speaks from a balcony like Juan Perón - another political figure you love or hate.

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