Spanish airline Iberia is in hot water for an ad they used to promote a contest for a trip to Cuba on Iberia.com. The commercial (video after the jump), which depicts a white baby (yes, baby) on a trip to Cuba, where hordes of scantily clad Cuban women dance and satisfy his every need, is at the center of the controversy. Spanish consumer rights group FACUA was outraged by the ad, calling for its immediate removal because:

…it presents “denigrating stereotypes of Cuban women, showing them as mulattas in bikinis who are at the service of tourists around the clock to dance for them, give them massages, fan them and give them food and drink”

According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, the ad was created for a promotion celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Iberia.com. And it gets worse:

The next sequence shows the baby surrounded by mulattas aboard a convertible, drinking and getting massages while, to a Caribbean rhythm, he narrates his journey after having won the contest. His chorus of companians sing “está chupao, está chupao”.Shortly after, the baby asks the Cuban women to taken him to his crib: “venga mamitas, llévenme a la cuna”; while receiving a massage he exclaims “go to iberia.com and come here with me, ’cause it’s wonderful to do nothing lying in hammmocks without spending money.”

I’ve poked around but I haven’t been able to find out what genius ad agency came up with this concept. But as with all cases of terribly offensive marketing, you can only blame the agency so much. Iberia signed off on this. I can just imagine a board room of stuffed shirts clapping their hands to the reggaeton beat, seeing themselves reflected in the character of the baby, and remembering their last trip to La Habana. Bleck.Due to the uproar (and FACUA citing that given the fact that the spot promotes women as objects, it’s actually illegal to run it in Spain) the little masterpiece has been pulled. And what does Iberia have to say? A spokesperson said “It was totally trivial.”

What do you think about the ad? Does it help promote sex tourism to Cuba or is it harmless?

Via / 20 Minutos

As a leader in destinations to Latin America, Continental Airlines has responded to the obvious need for a Spanish-language online reservations system:

Like Southwest, Continental Airlines has recently announced a partnership with Idiom Technologies — a leading independent provider of scalable software solutions for accelerating and optimizing globalization initiatives — to speed the launch of its Spanish
language online reservations system.

According to Ken Penny, director of internet planning and general manager at continental.com, “Continental Airlines serves more destinations in Latin America than any other U.S. airline. Offering website services, like flight purchase and frequent flyer information, in Spanish facilitates the travel process for more of our customers in
the United States and abroad. Recent surveys (such as the Roper Hispanic Cyberstudy released in early July 2005) indicate that U.S. Hispanics was the fastest growing online ethnic segment. Also, this ambition was consistent with Continental’s Latinization program, now in its eighth year, which enhances customer service for Latin American and U.S. Spanish-speaking passengers not just through language but in respecting cultural differences.

With the internet helping to create a truly global market, more and more businesses are realizing they need software like WorldServer to tap into this market and to reach customers who want to access information and make purchases in their native languages.

Via iMedia Connection READ MORE

Tags: latino marketing, hispanic marketing,airlines