If you are looking for a way to beat Arizona's new immigration law, look no further than Miami's new Gringo Masks.
The new product, brainchild of Miami advertising agency Zubi Advertising, guarantees the cops won't be stopping you or your loved ones after you put your best white face forward.
The product is simple. Choose from a cut out of a blue-eyed, sandy hair-colored white guy or a green-eyed, blond haired white woman.
Cut the face to fit yours. Poke out the eyes. And presto! You don't look like a "suspicious, potentially illegal" alien. Rubber band or green card not included.
The Gringo Mask was not created for profit, says Zubi execs, but for purpose. It's one of the nation's leading Hispanic advertising agency's ways of showing it disapproves of Arizona's new law.
"When we first heard of the law in Arizona and the effects it could have in terms of racial profiling, we discussed at the agency what we could do about it, since we have access to media," co-owner Michelle Zubizarreta told the Sun-Sentinel. "How can we address the issue, but do so in a creative way while at the same time delivering a message?"
Now we could see how some might find the mask offensive - kind of along the lines of the infamous "Illegal alien with green card" Halloween costume of last year.
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But Zubizarreta and her brother, Joe, said with traditional protests like marches and boycotts already in full swing, the Gringo Mask was another direct way of getting the message across.
"The spirit in which we conceived Gringo Mask," Zubizarreta said, "was not to offend anyone. We wanted to start a dialogue."
The Gringo Mask, along with instructions in Spanish and English, can be found at www.gringomask.com
