Bilingual Billboards Can Educate and Unite
In response to a commentary by Carlos E. Garcia titled “Billboard in Spanish Is a Good Sign for Everyone” (May 16), I am all in favor of international marketing, but I believe in going above and beyond the call of duty.
Billboards and television offer an opportunity to educate and unite diverse members of the community, as well as to advertise products.
At present, advertisers seem to only serve one purpose that seems to deliver a secret message to only one segment of society. The goal of uniting could be accomplished by simply making advertisements bilingual. A billboard in Spanish or any other language could simply have a subtitle in English.
Bilingual ads would serve a dual purpose. They would help teach English-speaking people other languages and would help teach English to people who speak a foreign language. Billboards in Spanish could be a good sign for everyone, if everyone could understand them.
ALLAN TIMKO
Los Angeles
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