Last Week Tonight - And Now This: WDIV Meteorologist Brandon Roux Enjoys Cinco de Mayo Too Much

[@Krylov223]

"What language was that?" had me on the floor.

[@MajiggerRose]

Honestly, this is a step up from the seriously ignorant racist shit. It's a bit cringey but comes off as kinda wholesome to me. To clarify, I mean that he’s not wearing a sombrero and/or saying “Cinco de Drinko” like you’ll unfortunately still see news anchors do sometimes. He’s just speaking Spanish. Very bad Spanish, yes, but I’m the kid of a Mexican immigrant (my dad) who doesn’t speak English fluently and he’s always thrilled when people genuinely try speaking to him on Spanish. Brandon isn’t just throwing in an “hola” or “fiesta”. He’s actually trying to form sentences at the end there. Sure, he may not know the history behind the holiday but honestly neither do a lot of Mexicans. I'd say most have an IDEA, but I doubt the majority know every detail about the Battle of Puebla. Just like most Americans don’t know that their own national anthem is about the War of 1812. [[EDIT: Just want to add that it'd be a little different if this were Día de los Muertos or a holiday with deep cultural significance. Cinco de Mayo just isn't a big deal to most Mexicans. They get the day off but that's about it. I'd compare it to Presidents Day in the U.S. Yeah, it really sucks that some people use it as an excuse to be ignorant, but if you report the weather in Spanish or get some margaritas after work, no reasonable Mexican will be offended. Maybe use it as an excuse to go to a local Mexican-owned restaurant or support other Mexican-owned businesses that day. Just don't be a dick and you're fine. ]]

[@stephenr80]

No he isnt he has learned cinco de mayo. i know a lot of english speakers that have been in latin countries for years and didnt learn. Im not hating dont give a fuck but he didnt try shit.

[@MajiggerRose]

@@stephenr80 I can see your argument, I just really want to give him the benefit of the doubt. The part where he’s trying to report the weather in Spanish seemed like a genuine attempt to me since his accent was so atrocious.

[@MajiggerRose]

@@stephenr80 Also, while I think there’s a good chance he doesn’t actually know the history of Cinco de Mayo, there’s a chance he actually does. It’s not hard to do a Google search

[@Baelor-Breakspear]

He’s getting in the spirit and I’m proud of him for it

[@chrismears496]

Love,love,love Brandon Roux and his comedic forecast always!!Such a good guy!!

[@colinwhitfield8627]

OH! Brandon is our meteorologist. He brings us such silly joy.

[@Taospark]

The funniest thing here is that they switch to Celsius on the same map for Canadian cities.

[@lystarian]

And people say we don't respect Canada!

[@etekweb]

Since the Detroit stations can also be picked up in Canada, it's more useful for people living there to use their units.

[@kassiogomes8498]

Jesus. I'm not used to the Fahrenheit scale and didn't think that 40°F was that cold.

[@ianism3]

yeah, a lot of the local US stations close to the border kinda have to cover both. I live in Montreal, and our Fox station covered Vermont, New Hampshire and northern NY (but not Buffalo or Albany... much less NYC), so the Canadian catchment area of the channel definitely had a larger population than the US one. the channel served Burlington, Plattsburgh & Montreal (in that order, I still remember the jingle) and I remember looking up how big Plattsburgh was and finding it funny a town of 20,000 people was more important to them than a city of 3 million

[@bernier42]

Came here to say I was impressed by that!

[@insidiouschaos812]

he's having way too much fun i love him, and it looks like he's getting better over time lol

[@Pfromm007]

I commend the man for trying to embrace culture

[@kdkttn19]

My morning meteorologist. 😂

[@alcfoxxy]

I watch Local 4 every day. Brandon is corny as hell (I roll my eyes every time at his lame dad jokes), but I love this station/crew. 😂❤

[@kolt9051]

I've heard he is a fun goofball. Seems pretty genuine I have to give him props for that!

[@chrismears496]

Henis funny,not corny,big difference!!

[@tjwash2]

Cinco and Sesenta y tres are the only numbers he knows en español so every cinco de Mayo will be reported as 73°

[@weatherboi]

Need to remember weather broadcast personal have a great deal of liberty on how they present the weather. I have seen some funny, strange and to the serious side of their presentations over the past half century.

[@folarinosibodu]

Nobody mentioned that he's wearing the same suit, shirt and tie every cinco de mayo

[@annadrift4]

He's definitely downloaded duolingo recently.

[@sashimiroll5055]

I’d love to see if he actually knows what Cinco De Mayo celebrates.

[@AndrewDangerously]

Most people have no idea, it is so frustrating that people will appropriate other's culture without the due diligence of understanding the tradition they're lampooning. It's a little known fact outside Mexico that Hellman's Mayonnaise was at one time very popular in Mexico. So much so that a shipment was sent aboard a ship en route to Mexico City from the US where it is made. They struck an iceberg in the Gulf of Mexico and tragically sank losing all hands. Now we commemorate the sinking on Sinko De Mayo.

[@silvasilvasilva]

​@@AndrewDangerously I lol at that, thanks.

[@brucefreadrich1188]

A Mexican victory against the French. I'm sure France has lost a war… or surrendered to… almost every nation on Earth at some point in it's history.

[@brucefreadrich1188]

@@AndrewDangerously Every year on this date I check the expiry date on the mayo in my fridge and if necessary dump it down the sinko.

[@MajiggerRose]

I don't see why it matters. He's not calling it “Cinco de Drinko” and/or wearing a sombrero like you’ll unfortunately still see news anchors do sometimes. He’s just speaking Spanish. Very bad Spanish, yes, but I’m the kid of a Mexican immigrant (my dad) who doesn’t speak English fluently and he’s always thrilled when people genuinely try speaking to him on Spanish. Brandon isn’t just throwing in an “hola” or “fiesta”. He’s actually trying to form sentences at the end there. Sure, he probably doesn’t actually know the history behind the holiday but honestly neither do a lot of Mexicans. Most don't know every detail about the Battle of Puebla. Just like most Americans don’t know that their own national anthem is about the war of 1812 and not the revolutionary war. Are we going to gatekeep the Star-Spangled Banner? If you're using Cinco de Mayo as an excuse to be racist and drunk, that's obviously not okay. But Cinco de Mayo just isn't that big of a deal in Mexico. It's not something of deep cultural significance like Día de los Muertos. They get the day off and there are some reenactments, but it's a largely American thing. TL;DR: I think as long as you're not a racist shithead about it, don't sweat not knowing what Cinco de Mayo is about. Most Mexicans don't care about that and would commend this guy for trying to actually speak the language.

[@SlyHikari03]

Something tells me probably has Duolingo on his phone.

[@AntagonistChan]

I live in the Detroit area and this made me realize how long it's been since I actually checked out the local news, because I recognize none of these people. I recognize the branding, Local 4 is forever ingrained in my skull, but these people are all strangers to me. Asked around, apparently all the people I'm used to retired in the last half-decade.

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

Probably apropos of nothing, but WDIV used to be WWJ-TV. WWJ is now channel 62.

[@MP197742]

Mmm, that’s not right. It was 2, 4, 7, 20, 50, 56, 62 back in the 80s. 4 was always WDIV (NBC affiliate) and 7 was always WXYZ (ABC affiliate). Around 1994-95, Fox consolidated its shows (The Simpsons, Married with Children, etc) that were mostly on syndicated broadcast on 50 in Detroit, and formed a new network (Fox). They bought the Channel 2 station, which had been the CBS affiliate, and changed the call sign to FOX2. CBS bought 62, which had been a rinky dink little Detroit station, best known for The New Dance Show, and changed it to WWJ, which was what 2 had been. Then a couple years later, 50 was bought by UPN, then later became the WB.

[@johnmcaraher]

@@MP197742 Nope, Gary is right. WDIV came into being in 1978; before that, from 1947 to 1978, it was WWJ TV en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDIV-TV

[@terryforshee5203]

Being from SE Michigan, I just enjoyed being reminded all those 80's stations!

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

@@MP197742 Wasn't 2 always WJBK, as it is today? I've studied a lot about broadcasting, and I know that once upon a time 1500 was WJBK and became country and changed to WDEE around 1970. Also, did you ever listen to CKLW (the Big 8)? Channel 7 was ABC-owned from 1948-85. Also, WDIV's calls have two meanings, one being We're Detroit's IV (IV being the roman numeral for 4) and "Where Detroit is Vital."

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

@@johnmcaraher Thanks. I've studied the broadcasting industry for decades, and as far as I know, 2 has always been WJBK.