(11.10.00) The chief executive of Viteri TBWA in Ecuador has dressed up as a transvestite to star in a spot for the country's first online car dealership.
Alvaro Viteri was driven to don a wig and a dress after his agency, part of the TBWA Worldwide network, couldn't find a genuine transvestite to appear in the commercial for www.patiodeautos.com.
Ecuador's long-standing discrimination of gays and lesbians meant that the agency was unable to hire either a real transvestite or even an actor for the role in the commercial. The country only recently repealed Article 516 of its Penal Code that made homosexuality a crime.
The controversial image was chosen to build interest in the virtual car dealership which claims to have the most diverse selection of new and used cars in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
Ecuadorians generally associate transvestites with street prostitution and with cars because they often ply their trade in the backseats of their customers' vehicles. The 20-second commercial features Viteri dressed as a woman talking about "her" experience with cars. She says that patiodeautos.com "has even more experience than I do with cars."
Viteri commented: "It was a humorous way to tell people that they could get to know as many cars as a transvestite by simply logging on to www.patiodeautos.com".
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