Slingshot Bows Tia Rosa TV Spot

A boisterous family is silenced by the taste of Tia Rosa’s new Gortia product in a television spot breaking July 29.

The 30-second commercial was created by Dallas-based Slingshot. The shop employed dramatic silence to demonstrate in-trigue about the product and to help the spot stand out amid more typical TV ad fare, the agency said.

The family eats in silence before an announcer says, “Tia Rosa introduces something you’ve never seen before.” The spot closes with a family member being heard saying, “Delicious!”

The commercial will break in spot markets in California and Texas, where Tia Rosa enjoys strong consumer sales.

The Gortia Flour Gorditas are shaped like flour tortillas, but are described as softer, richer and thicker. Fort Worth, Texas-based Tia Rosa, a subsidiary of Bimbo Bakeries USA, positions itself as the top flour tortilla brand in Mexico. The company sells tortillas and baked-sweet goods in the U.S.

The new television campaign is primarily targeted to women between 18 and 49 of both Hispanic and Anglo heritage, ac-cording to Slingshot co-creative director Chris Sekin.

To appeal to both ethnic groups, the agency casted Latino and Anglo actors in the spot. Both Spanish and English are heard in the cacophony that fills the dining room before the Gortias are brought to the table.

“We wanted to have a sense of a multicultural gathering because we thought this product transcends the Hispanic and Anglo markets,” said agency co-creative director Alex Bunch. “We were trying to give the feeling it’s from the same company that has roots in Mexico, but this is not solely a Hispanic product.”

In-store promotions, recipe booklets and discount coupons will support the television campaign. Distribution of the product has begun in key markets in the Southwest and West.

Tia Rosa most closely competes with Irving, Texas-based Mission Foods, which is a subsidiary of Gruma S.A. in Mexico.

Tia Rosa’s 2001 media expenditures for its tortilla products were $800,000, per CMR.

Production credits on the TV spot go to agency copywriter Pablo Ampuero and art director David McKay. The independent producer of the project was Lisa Moudry of San Antonio.