DishLATINO, a leading pay television provider serving the Hispanic community in the United States, announced today the launch of its “Latino Like You” campaign. This campaign starring actor Eugenio Derbez and beloved legendary character El Chavo del Ocho recognizes and celebrates the upward trajectory of Latinos around the world.

Using deepfake technology, El Chavo returns to the screen through DishLATINO’s “Icons” commercial that will premiere during the qualifying match between Mexico and the United States for the World Cup Qatar 2022. El Chavo “comes out” of the TV screen to talk with Eugenio Derbez, who, like all Latinos, has had great affection for El Chavo since he was a child.

The “Icons” spot with El Chavo and Derbez was filmed at Gabriel García Márquez studios in Mexico City and was directed by Matias Moltrasio. The concept was developed with advertising agency MARCA, and the special effects were produced by Right Cut from Miami and London-based Metaphysic. More than 1,000 hours of work were required to change El Chavo’s face to make a 60-second commercial and a 30-second commercial that will air on different TV channels in the United States.

“Deepfake” is a technique that uses artificial intelligence to alter a person’s face and modify facial features and gestures in images and videos. In the Icons commercial, the face of the actor impersonating El Chavo del Ocho is replaced by the face of Roberto Gómez Bolaños. The effect is impressive and moving when seeing El Chavo again on the screen. This is the first time this innovative technology has been used in a campaign aimed exclusively at Hispanics in the US.

“At DishLATINO we feel fortunate to serve as a link between the Hispanic community and those cultural elements that are important to us such as our language, our entertainment and our traditions. This project with Eugenio and El Chavo gave us a unique opportunity to go one step further and showcase the pride we should feel for the advances and contributions of the Latino community,” said Alfredo Rodríguez, Vice President of the Latino Center of Excellence at Dish Network.

For this campaign, DishLATINO worked together with Grupo Chespirito to use El Chavo’s image in its advertising and promotions. The main objective of Grupo Chespirito is to preserve and bring the legacy of Roberto Gomez Bolaños to new generations, including his most famous characters such as El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado.

“I am amazed how through technology two icons of our culture can meet again. My father had great admiration for Eugenio’s courage to do new things, it was even reflected in a letter he wrote to him. They are part of the long road that the Latino community has traveled and how it has gained relevance in the world,” said Roberto Gómez Fernández, Producer and Executive Director of Grupo Chespirito. “I feel enormous admiration for the work of our people, and it fills me with pride to be part of it. As for the commercial, it moves me to rediscover those gestures that are endearing to all Latinos because they are from El Chavo, but for me, they are from my father.”

Eugenio Derbez has been the spokesperson for DishLATINO since 2014. Throughout this relationship, Eugenio has supported DishLATINO in highlighting the main values and traditions of the Latino culture, the constant challenge to preserve Spanish in our children, and even teaching English as a second language with the channel “Inglés Para Todos” (English for Everyone).

“DishLATINO offers more Spanish language channels than any other pay-TV provider. While we message this important benefit alongside our slate of English language channels, state-of-the-art technology and fair pricing, we also strive to connect emotionally with our customers. Promoting our identity and culture is important to our community on many different levels and is at the core of what the team at DishLATINO does,” said Rodríguez.

The launch of the “Latino Like You” campaign is supported by various initiatives such as the website www.Latinocomotu.com where fans of El Chavo and Derbez will be able to see the commercial, the “behind the scenes,” as well as other messages and the “Chavo Filter.” The filter brings El Chavo and Eugenio even closer to their fans using preprogrammed emoji expressions that can be used for unique selfies.