According to a New York Times article by Claudio E. Cabrera and Louis Lucero II Cinco de Mayo, a day oftentimes mistaken in the United States for Mexico's Independence Day (Cabrera, C., & Ii, L., 2018). Cinco de Mayo, also known as Fifth of May in Spanish, is referred to as the Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla. This holiday is celebrated in some parts of Mexico and the United States in honor of a military victory in 1862 against the French forces of Napoleon III (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2021). In contrast, Mexico's Independence Day is held on September 16, a national holiday in Mexico. In 1810, a priest named Miguel Hidalgo urged Mexico to revolt against Spain, leading to the War for Independence, which ended in 1821 (Cabrera, C., & Ii, L., 2018).
The commercialization of Cinco de Mayo (and criticism of cultural stereotypes) has taken off in 1989(Cabrera, C., & Ii, L., 2018). Nielsen research firm reported that in 2013 Americans bought more than $600 million worth of beer for Cinco de Mayo, which was more than for the Super Bowl or St. Patrick's Day (Cabrera, C., & Ii, L., 2018). David Hayes-Bautista, a professor at U.C.L.A., published a book in 2012 titled "El Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition." In the book, he called "Cinco de Mayo" a "fake holiday which beverage companies invented." (Cabrera, C., & Ii, L., 2018). The holiday's evolution from an earnest show of patriotism to a chiefly corporate celebration has been fitful, to say the least (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2021).
Reference:
Cabrera, C., & Ii, L. (2018, May 05). What is Cinco de Mayo? Retrieved April 26, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/business/cinco-de-mayo-facts-history.html
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2021, March 05). Cinco de Mayo. Retrieved April 26, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cinco-de-Mayo
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