A cute digital sloth sitting on a bench in El Retiro Park, walking around the Puerta del Sol and Gran Via in the Spanish capital, invites locals to de-stress and live the peaceful life he enjoys by visiting Costa Rica.
The protagonist of the audiovisual is an endearing sloth created with visual effects, who comes to Madrid to invite its inhabitants to take life more calmly, embracing the Costa Rican philosophy of Pura Vida, while he walks around Madrid and engages in dialogue with the city, proposing a change of perspective on how to enjoy everyday life.
The video is part of the advertising campaign “Pura Vida, Madrid”, launched by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) in Spain, within the framework of the 45th edition of the International Tourism Fair FITUR 2025, to be held from January 22 to 26 at IFEMA, Madrid, with the aim of remaining present in the minds of the Spanish, a market that is of great importance in the issuance of tourists to Costa Rica, attracting them to visit and revisit our country.
"This week, there's only talk about travel in Madrid, Spain, because tomorrow FITUR begins, one of the most important travel and negotiation fairs in Europe. We started last week with expectations and a few hours ago we presented the sloth walking through the main streets of Madrid, to invite the Spanish people to come to Costa Rica. We feel very proud of this promotional action, not only for the quality with which it was produced, but because we are starting to have the first results of how it is starting to go viral.
"We know how important it is to innovate and find the right channels to talk to our potential tourists. Social media and digital television have allowed us to be efficient in choosing the market segment we want to reach," explained Carolina Trejos, marketing director of the ICT.
How was it done?
The strategy uses the sloth, one of the national symbols of our country, to convey a message of reflection and balance. It is an invitation to rethink the frenetic pace of life in big cities, contrasting it with the slower and happier style that characterizes the Central American country.
The objective was to generate a close conversation, in which Costa Rica did not speak from afar, but rather presented itself as a guest who came to meet and dialogue with the city. Starting from a simple concept, we have created a visual narrative that fuses humor, sensitivity and an invitation not only to travel to Costa Rica, but also to reflect on our pace of life.”
The creative and technical process of this campaign represented a unique challenge, as it involved designing a Fake Out Of Home (FOOH) that was credible and striking, but without immediately revealing the message behind the giant sloth. In addition, the spot required a delicate balance between transmitting the essence of Costa Rican philosophy and, at the same time, highlighting the vitality and dynamism of Madrid.
The campaign will be seen in Spanish digital media focused on travel, sports, general press, lifestyle and women's press such as AS, ABC; Hola magazine, Marie Claire, In Style; the newspaper La Vanguardia and in the El Viajero segment of the newspaper El País, among others.
Last year, 428,637 tourists from Europe visited us, of which 54,145 arrived from Spain, making us our fourth largest source market from this continent.
The video, created by the team at the Newlink Spain agency, can be seen on the YouTube channel, Visit Costa Rica, at the following link.
Source: ICT.