Local

State's marketing contract with superstar Pitbull reveals few details

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Florida-born superstar Pitbull is making a marketing pitch aimed at attracting visitors to Florida.

The performer, who is also known as Mr. 305 – one of Miami's area codes – is being used to attract people to Florida's theme parks and beaches.

Marketing expert Wilson Camelo said using a high-profile celebrity attracts a certain type of customer who might not have planned a visit to the state. He said people in their 20s aren't visiting the state in the same numbers they have in the past.

"While he does not appeal to everybody, he has over 100 million followers," Camelo said.

Channel 9's Jorge Estevez got a copy of the contract the state has with the performer and found it doesn't say how much Pitbull is being paid by the state. Estevez found that much of the contract has been redacted.

Estevez learned that the secrecy around the contract with Visit Florida, the state's tourism industry marketing corporation, might be an effort to protect the artist, especially if he is giving his endorsement at a discount.

"If Pitbull is giving the hookup to Visit Florida in terms of the rates he is giving them, when he goes to negotiate other contracts he could be negotiating from a point of weakness," Camelo said.

Visit Florida did not respond to Estevez's questions about the contract, but Channel 9's political expert said that one of the reasons groups like Visit Florida are created is so deals can be done without revealing all of the details.