Neither angel wings, nor luxurious settings, nor international stars: to stage a Victoria's Secret-style fashion show in Cuba, three models, a street filled with trash, palm leaves, and a good dose of dark humor were enough. What was the result? A parody that turns the daily misfortunes of the country into a fashion spectacle.
The young Cubans Amanda Izquierdo Tapia, Frank Aldea, and Reynier Smith Muras star in the video, in which they walk among piled-up waste, dressed for the occasion and with stage names that seem to be taken straight from the inventory of national calamities.
"If Victoria's Secret had been made in Cuba. Which one was your favorite?" asks the text accompanying the post, inviting the public to choose between three characters that represent some of the most persistent issues on the Island.
The presentation begins with a nod to state television: “Cubainvisión presents...,” announces a voice, parodying the name of the official broadcaster Cubavisión before introducing the stars of the parade.
The first to appear is «Hepatitis González González», a model wearing a red outfit and a crown, set against a backdrop of a mountain of waste.
His name plays on hepatitis and the health concerns related to garbage accumulation, environmental pollution, and the unsanitary conditions affecting many Cuban towns.
Then comes «Oropuche de la Luz y Sincorriente», parading joyfully in a pink lace outfit, eye-catching accessories, and a crown.
The name combines a reference to the Oropouche virus, whose outbreaks raised concerns in Cuba, with a much less exotic allusion: the lack of electricity.
The surname "Sincorriente" requires little explanation for those who have spent years organizing their lives around power outages. In this Cuban version of high fashion, even the models seem to have learned to live without electricity.
The third participant is “There is No Nipinga Coverage”, who appears in a bright pink outfit, wearing a necklace and a crown, while walking down the same street littered with waste.
Its name mocks the connectivity issues, the difficulties in accessing the Internet, and the interruptions in telecommunications, which are sometimes exacerbated by the energy crisis and the infrastructure limitations of ETECSA.
But the parade doesn't just settle for showcasing its three stars. It also has sponsors.
And this show is brought to you by the fifteenth collapse of the CENC and public health issues, announces the voice in the video, in a humorous reference to the National Electroenergetic System and the health problems in the country.
The sentence parodies the commercial presentations of major shows, with one obvious difference: here the supposed sponsors do not offer perfumes, underwear, or cosmetics, but rather blackouts and mountains of trash.
The event's title arrives: “This afternoon we bring you the show by Victoria Brete”.
The transformation of the famous international parade into "Victoria Brete" encapsulates the spirit of parody: replacing glamour and million-dollar productions with an improvised runway on the streets of Cuba, where everyday issues become part of the spectacle.
The choice of setting also seems deliberate. The three protagonists walk past enormous piles of trash, an image that may be familiar in numerous neighborhoods in Cuba, where difficulties in waste collection have caused streets and public spaces to remain filled with debris for extended periods.
The contrast between the models' poses, their accessories, and the dirty surroundings is precisely one of the main comedic resources of the recording.
Instead of hiding the trash, the creators turn it into scenery. And where a conventional parade would aim to convey elegance and exclusivity, this Cuban version openly showcases a reality that is far less sophisticated.
The joke also serves as a social critique. Each name refers to a different issue: diseases associated with health crises, prolonged blackouts, and communication difficulties.
Everything is intertwined with references to Cuban television, beauty contests, and international shows, in a blend of absurdity and satire that relies on situations recognizable to a large part of the population.
And although the video is intended to provoke laughter, the underlying issues are less amusing: the trash, blackouts, and connectivity problems that inspire its characters are part of the real difficulties faced daily by many Cubans.
Ultimately, this version of Victoria's Secret doesn't have the famous wings of its models, but it does have three participants ready to prove that when problems abound and resources are scarce, Cuban humor still finds material to put on a show.
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