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Pitbull Partners With FL Tourism Agency To Promote "Sexy Beaches"

Mr. Worldwide himself
Eva Rinaldi via Flickr

A Miami-area performer who bills himself as Mr. Worldwide is narrowing his focus somewhat.  Visit Florida will be working with Pitbull to promote tourism, but the partnership could be courting controversy.

For anyone thinking of taking a trip to Florida, Pitbull has just one word: dalé.  It’s kind of his catchphrase, and it’s slang for ‘do it.’  

Despite Florida’s status as a spring break destination, Paul Phipps, Visit Florida’s Chief Marketing Officer says many young people have the wrong idea about Florida.  He says Pitbull is just the person to change their mind.

“There’s a general attitude that you know Florida is where their grandparents go to retire.  And they don’t want to do what their parents did or their grandparents did, they want to do new and different things.”

But some parts of the relationship could raise eyebrows.  Visit Florida will work with Pitbull on the video for a new single titled https://youtu.be/o3ZXrvH_Azs" target="_blank">Sexy Beaches.  Paul Phipps of Visit Florida doesn’t think the name, which some might find offensive, will undermine the message.

“I mean some may think that,” Phipps says, “and I guess that’s their right, you know.” 

“It’s going to show the state off really well,” he goes on, “and we’ll have some fun with it, and it delivers a great brand story that you know Florida’s got 825 miles of beaches.”

The partnership is a year long, but Phipps says the state has an option to extend if it goes well.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.