Paris Hilton Too Hot for Brazil?

Hotel Heiress' Steamy Beer Commercial Crosses Boundaries of Taste for Government Official

(AP)  Paris Hilton is giving blondes a bad name.

So says Brazil's Secretariat for Women's Affairs, which wants a sultry beer commercial starring the hotel heiress, model and actor off the air.

The ad features Hilton in a short black dress preening and rubbing a can of Devassa beer on herself, to the delight of onlookers watching through her window.

The commercial isn't very explicit - especially in a land where postage-stamp-size bikinis are ubiquitous. But Brazil's regulations say beer commercials cannot treat women as overtly sensual objects.

"It's an ad that devalues women - in particular, blond women," according to a spokeswoman for the Women's Secretariat who said it received numerous complaints. She spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because she was not free to discuss the case

Many Brazilian beer ads feature women in bikinis - but a key difference is that those are set on the beach, said Eduardo Correia, a spokesman for the regulator Conar, which has opened three separate investigations into the campaign.

"The problem with the ad isn't a lack of clothing, but its sensual nature," Correia said. "A woman in a bikini on a beach isn't necessarily sensual; it depends on the context."

Conar is a private agency that cannot legally force a company to remove an ad. But Correia said that in 23 years of existence, Conar has conducted more than 7,000 investigations and not one of its recommendations has been ignored.

Devassa, which means "naughty" in the most gentle of translations, is made by Grupo Schincariol. Calls to the company were not immediately returned Thursday.

Devassa's "Bem Loura" - "Very Blond" - beer also features an Internet campaign with Hilton wearing lingerie and high heels.

Hilton was in Brazil last week during Carnival for the opening of the ad campaign. Photos in local newspapers showed her crawling on the floor in a VIP room during the extravagant samba parades.

[pragmatist1]

It's a bit hypocritical for the Brazilian government to want to ban a commercial claiming it was too "hot" or inappropriately suggestive. Hey, what's next, banning all the half-naked or near-naked people on the beaches? Hilton's being singled out because she's not the Brazilian-type.

[sheila2u-2009]

Right , she is laughing all the way to the bank and then another bank and so on....for what would she need "a brain" ? LOL

[jxknowles]

She's out of jail?

[magnumdr]

Maybe if she were a real blonde but this isn't true. I wonder how "hot" she will be when she reaches forty.

[rwsmith29456]

Who gives a rip what this bimbo does?

[Stevenapoli7]

When did Brazil become prudes? Like the U.S.

[lilbear925]

Like Paris Hilton really drinks BEER? It isn't the beer company that is stereotyping this bimbo -- it's the bimbo, herself. Maybe if she advertised their Olympics, or something...

[Archie_Clement]

Did you hear about the blonde that lost here QC job at the M&M factory because she rejected too many W's?

[smoknmirrors]

No, hum a few bars and we'll wing it.

[Brokennews]

What? No video?

I figure it was done in the same night vision camera format as her other films!

[gold_standard]

You can see it on YouTube, but it isn't racy enough to run in the United States during an NFL game. Maybe Brazil has higher standards that the U.S. after all.

[smoknmirrors]

You are definitely right about that NFL standard. Any cheerleader in the NFL makes more suggestive moves and shows more flesh than Paris did in that commercial. But I don't know about higher standards. Remember they aren't allowed to use their hands.

[ellensmithee]

You gotta be pretty filthy to cross Brazil's boundaries. They are a grossly sexual, vain, and filthy society.

[avigil2]

No... they just aren't as uptight and prudish as we are here.