"Pegaditas" offensive or just status quo?

Mon06Feb2006

"Pegaditas" offensive or just status quo?

16:30 H | Topics: Marketing - Midwest - Society

Chicago Latina women are up in arms about a billboard campaign that was recently launched by Spanish-language radio station La Ley showing images of several women's bums and the words "25 pegaditas". The controversy has gone from grass roots quejas to mainstream media in no time:

...the ad shows an image of a woman, duplicated several times, photographed from behind and wearing skin-tight shorts. Her splayed hands pressed against her butt further accentuate her derriere.
The ad promotes the Spanish radio station "La Ley" WLEY 107.9 and a contest called "25 Pegaditas." Listeners naming 25 songs in a row could receive a chance to win money.

In Spanish, "pegaditas" loosely translates to "little ones strung together." But, according to the young women, "pegaditas" is also a play on the word "pegar," which translates to "hits." That's "hits" as in popular songs. Or in the context of the ad, that's "hits" as in smacks on the behind.

My humble opinion: pegaditas means what it means (25 hits back to back), plus it refers to the fact that women's pompis in the pic are "pegaditas" -- as in very close together. To go any further is to stretch the Mexican lexicon and pointlessly dig deeper into something that is already vulgar in itself.

Does it offend me? I'm immune to it. Anyone who watches Spanish-language TV or -- God forbid -- listens to Spanish-language drive time radio can't be surprised by this. Sexism, machismo, homophobia and all-around naco-ness are the order of the day. The battle against this type of imagery is beyond a billboard in Chicago. It's a battle to change the mentality of the conglomerate of Latin American cultures. Not an easy task.

Via / The Chicago Tribune, AdJab and Hispanic Tips