one of the more popular advertising strategies here, from products ranging from lotion to beer, is as follows:

hire a group of young, hot chileans (both men and women), dress them up in bright, flattering outfits, then send them out to the streets to roam about, pass out samples, and basically draw the eye of any passerby with their dashing good looks. i have to say, it works. earlier, i passed a group of chilean studs in muscle shirts with silver wings strapped their backs, supposedly promoting a toothpaste. they were just hanging out on a street corner, but the flow of pedestrian traffic clearly revolved around them. and just yesterday, i bumped into a young woman wearing a bright orange minidress---part of a group of other orange-clad men and women---all done up to the nines. she was meticulously coiffed and a picture of perfect cosmetics application. you just had to gaze at her, and before you knew it, there was a sample of some kind of shampoo or another in your hand. it's not like using hot young people to promote products is anything new, but encountering them in the flesh is another thing entirely.