Chacón has been known by various nicknames, such as "La Bomba de Puerto Rico" (The Puerto Rican Bombshell), and "La
Vedette de América" (America's Showgirl). During her heyday in the 1970s and early 1980s, she toured most of Latin America, the United States, Europe and Japan. She also starred in two movies and many
telenovelas, such as
Yo Sé Que Mentía.
Amalie Oíl commercial In 1982, AMCAR, Inc. hired her for a television commercial about
Amalie Oil Company automobile
coolant products, which became one of the most famous television commercials in
Puerto Rico's history. The publicity surrounding the commercial landed her in a front-page article in
The Wall Street Journal in June 1983 entitled "A Onetime Choirgirl Rules as Sex Goddess On Puerto Rican TV". The ad employed a play on words between the English word
coolant and Spanish
culón, which means large derrière (
buttocks).
Mid-1980s to present From 1984 through the early 1990s, Iris Chacón appeared on such American TV shows as
America Onstage,
The Joan Rivers Show,
The Merv Griffin Show,
Geraldo Rivera Show, and
David Letterman. Letterman described her as the
Dolly Parton and
Loni Anderson of Puerto Rico and joked about proposing to her. Griffin said of her that "she was the answer to '
Where's the beef?'", a reference to the
Wendy's commercial of that time period. However, by 1984, Chacón reached her peak, and not being able to reach an "Anglo" market, ended her show in Puerto Rico by mid-1985 at the age of 35. Her show aired in syndication until the end of the 1980s. She was along several figures, including Los Gamma, that participated in the inauguration of
Súper Siete following the sale of the channel. Outside of the U.S., Chacón appeared on various Spanish-language programs, including
Anabel,
Siempre en Domingo, Mala Noche No, and
Al Ritmo de la Noche which were all
Televisa productions. ==Personal life==