Captions in Mexican TV Commercials
Watching Mexican TV channels like Televisa and TVAzteca, you'll notice that many TV commercials have captions at the bottom of the screen with what appear to read as cautionary messages. Snack commercials, for example, often have captions like "Come bien y haz ejercicio" (eat well and exercise) or "Llenate de energia" (fill yourself with energy). Makeup commercials often have messages like "Salud es belleza" (health is beauty). Beer commercials often come tagged with the phrase Todo con medida (everything in moderation). However, other commercials don't seem to have any captions at all.
Why do these messages appear in these commercials? Are they mandated by Mexican law? What is the motivation for these messages? Why do they appear on some commercials, but not all?
Best Answer
Regulations in Mexico require warning messages in alcohol and tobacco advertising. Health promotion messages are required in ads of food and nonalcoholic beverages. For tv commercials, regulation establishes font type and minimum size, and the fraction of the ad duration that the caption should appear on screen. The purpose of these messages is to protect consumers, specially children.
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Comerciales de los 80's (México)
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