It is 8:30 p.m. and it’s time for commercials on prime-time television. A Target ad flashes on the screen. A family digs through their stockings, about to open presents, to a danceable tune that sounds like “Joy to the World,” but you can’t quite understand it.

That’s because it’s in Spanish.

Marketers increasingly are going beyond foreign language TV stations to reach a diverse customer base. Target Corp., General Motors Corp. and Major League Baseball have all recently aired ads in Spanish on network television. Locally, the Wayne County Community College District ran a recruitment ad in the general market in Spanish with English subtitles and another in English with Arabic subtitles.

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