Naked model features in Mexico tourism ad

It wasn’t the nudity of the soap opera star that upset Mexico’s cultural guardians when a new campaign was launched to promote the state of Hidalgo. What led to their pulling the ads was that Iran Castillo’s body drew deflected attention from national treasures, including a convent and famed aqueduct.

The ads in question featured tourism attractions that included the Atlantes monoliths, a cathedral and the aqueduct superimposed on the seemingly naked body of actress Castillo, along with the words, “Hidalgo gets under your skin.”

This ad campaign created a sensation even before the first ad appeared. Officials of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History complained that the Hidalgo government failed to obtain the proper permits and that the ads violated the dignity of these national cultural monuments.

State officials responded by launching a variation of the ads, featuring hot-air balloons over mountains and waterfalls, over a photograph of Castillo that no longer displayed her breasts and backside.

The advertising agency that created the campaign, Gaudelli MCW, reported that they were happy to make the changes to the photos.

“They simply informed us that it was not acceptable because the dignity of the monuments was affected,” said the director of the agency, Roberto Gaudelli.

Government tourism officials said they were pleased with the attention Hidalgo was receiving, a state not typically attracting large numbers of tourists.

Gaudelli says that the ad campaign will continue, with new images projected on the bodies of celebrities and that he doesn’t anticipate further problems.

“If I had shown a fat woman and her husband by her side … I don’t think this controversy would have come up,” Gaudelli mused.