Cinco de Mayo? There’s an App for That!

Cinco de Mayo is upon us again.  I ruminated last year on how the day usual is marked by non-Mexicans who demonstrate a misunderstanding of the day’s significance in Mexican history through their drunken behavior, or by Mexican-origin celebrities wanting to demonstrate their Mexican "authenticity."  This year, however, it seems to me that Cinco de Mayo has completed it integration into the non-Mexican mainstream American culture, evidenced by the Cinco de Mayo mobile app.

"Hit the Pinata!" available at
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cinco-de-mayo/id521925155?mt=8

Creating a mobile app based on the Mexican holiday makes commercial sense, considering the rates of smart phone ownership among Hispanic consumers.  The Pew Research Hispanic Center reported in March that 49 percent of all Hispanic adults own smart phones.  This figure is comparable to both the overall rate of smart phone ownership (46 percent) as well as with ownership rates among whites (45 percent) and African Americans (49 percent).  (In the interest of full disclosure, my residual neo-Luddite tendencies prevent me from feeling the need to own a smart phone.)  In other words, Hispanics are utilizing the latest technologies at rates similar to other racial and ethnic groups.

Two interrelated drawbacks emerge from these rates of adult Hispanic smart phone ownership, however.  One is economic status.  Hispanics smart phone ownership declines with income.  As the Pew report states, "More than three-quarters (76%) of Latinos with annual family incomes of $50,000 or more say they own a smartphone [sic].  This compares with 59% of those with family incomes between $30,000 and $49,999, and four-in-ten (40%) Latinos with family incomes under $30,000."  The other related indicator is educational attainment.  As with income, smart phone ownership declines the less education Hispanics attain.  The Pew report continues, "About seven-in-ten (68%) Latinos with some college education or more say they own a smartphone.  This compares with 45% of those who have completed high school and 32% of those without a high school diploma."

Despite these qualifiers, I will strike a somewhat less cynical tone this Fifth of May than I did last year for at least one reason.  The Cinco de Mayo mobile app seems aimed at disseminating information about the holiday to an audience wider than only one of Mexican origin.  As such, it seems to hold potential to dispel misconceptions and stereotypes, which hopefully will lead to the holiday being less about downing tequila and Corona and more about honoring the history and culture of the Mexican people.