3 reasons why marketing to Filipinos in the US means using Taglish

By Dennis Clemente

I’ve often been asked why Filipino/Tagalog ads in the US are mixed with English. I have three answers. The first and most obvious reason is that Filipinos use English in school and in the corporate world in the Philippines. It’s what was inculcated in us being a former American colony.

The second less obvious reason why we use Taglish when English would have been sufficient is that it’s more natural. It’s how we talk, because Filipino or Tagalog has not fully evolved, (no) thanks to our colonial past. It was colonized by Spain for over 300 years, three by the Brits and 4 years (occupation) by the Japanese, not to mention our sizable Chinese population, our earliest migrants dating back to 15th-century Philippines. We have the oldest Chinatown in the world.

The third reason why we use Taglish even in the States hedges on a marketing approach where there is just too much noise in the general market and to get Filipinos’ attention one has to use Taglish to stand out in the marketplace. For recent immigrants, the connection with the home country is formed. For Filipino Americans who can understand a little Filipino/Tagalog, it connects them with their parents–and their roots.

However, it is important to bear in mind that if one is targeting Filipinos in Hawaii, it’s important to use English only, as the earliest Filipino settlers in the US first called Hawaii their home. That would be back in the 1920s where one generation after another has become wholly American. Think Tia Carrere. Also, most of these early settlers came from the northern part of the Philippines where they spoke a dialect called Ilokano.