• by Karl Greenberg , March 11, 2009

Mexican actress Kate del Castillo has signed to be the spokesperson for California Ford Dealers--the first arrangement of its kind for Ford, and one aimed at California's Hispanic population.

The Mexico City native is a popular telenovela and film actor in Mexico, but she is also popular in California--where virtually all of its Hispanic population is Mexican-American. Del Castillo's telenovelas air in some 100 countries. She also will appear in "Julia" with Tilda Swinton, a film that opens later this year in the U.S. And she has had supporting roles in the Roland Emmerich-produced "Trade" with Kevin Kline, and a cameo in "Bordertown" as Antonio Banderas' wife.

"She is pretty popular everywhere among Hispanics mostly because of her fame in telenovelas," says Ford spokesperson Octavio Navarro, who explains that telenovelas in which she plays featured roles are standard fare on Univision. In 2007, he says, Ford featured singer Patricia Monterola as spokesperson for an effort limited to Northern California.

Hispanics in California make up 18% of new-vehicle buyers, versus 8.2% for the U.S., per R.L. Polk & Co. registration data.

Under the agreement and beginning today, del Castillo will star in television and radio advertisements for the California Ford Dealers through calendar year 2009 in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, Yuma-El Centro, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Salinas/Monterey, Chico/Redding, and Fresno.

The effort, via Miami-based Zubi Advertising, has a "role playing" theme in which del Castillo says at the beginning of each spot: "The role I would like to play next is ..." She then names one and describes the characteristics of that persona, which correspond to features of the Ford vehicle featured in that commercial. As she describes the features, the vehicle coalesces behind her.

In the spot for the F-150 pickup truck, for example, she says she would like to play a "ranchera," and explains how that would entail the F-150 truck and its call-out features--including mileage and side-steps Travel Link service, which provides local gas prices. In a spot for the Ford Focus, she says she wants to play a 21st-century heroine, and describes how Ford features like Sync will help her do it.

Navarro says that if the campaign is successful, Ford may run expand it to other markets.