Posted by This story originally appeared on México Desconocido
The Mexican actor, host and comedian, Arath de la Torre, was involved in controversy for having participated in a commercial for the Moneyman credit company, where he made fun of the dance of the Voladores de Papantla .
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What is the commercial about?
The ad consists of a video of the Voladores ritual dance and the voice of the actor saying: “Do you know what the number of laps the Papantla Flyers give and your first loan with Moneyman have in common? In that both generate zero interest ”
Image: Mexico Travel Channel via Unknown Mexico
The audience response was not positive at all and the critics did not wait. Well, many considered it an offense and a ridicule of Voladores de Papantla, Intangible Heritage of Humanity since 2009.
The Ministry of Culture, the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples and the president comment on the matter
The commercial went viral in a short time and generated the anger of the users. Therefore, the Ministry of Culture released a tweet where Moneyman’s use of the Flyers ceremony was criticized .
Image: Ministry of Culture via Twitter
In addition to this, the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), expressed its condemnation of the advertisement.
In an unfortunate and crude advertisement, this company, to promote its services for commercial purposes, makes fun of the pre-Hispanic ritual of the Voladores de Papantla, declared in 2009 as Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational Organization. Science and Culture (Unesco).
National Institute of Indigenous Peoples
Finally, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador described the commercial presented by the credit company as racist.
A few days ago there was a questioning of the dance to the Voladores de Papantla, racist. I remember a leader, and it gives me a shame because he was the secretary of Economy, or of Finance of the legitimate government, also with doctorates from ITAM who wrote an article in La Jornada and stated that the Indian is not to blame but whoever does it. Buddy.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Arath de la Torre and Moneyman react to controversy in their commercial
Before the harsh judgments of the spectators, both Arath de la Torre and Moneyman issued a statement in which they expressed their apologies for the spot . In addition, Moneyman clarified that the concept and ideas of the ad were the responsibility of the company, completely delimiting the actor.
Image:Moneyman via Twitter
Image: Arath De La Torre via Twitter
Faced with the scandal caused at the national level, Arath was replaced on Monday by Gabriel Soto in “Hoy”, a program he hosted with Andrea Legarreta, Galilea Montijo, Paul Stanley and Lambda García.
With information: EL UNIVERSAL , Aristegui Noticias , MILENIO , UNOTV