I read somewhere that she was actually paid, but in kind. A set of family portraits, in exchange for using her mug on a web site.
What the ? So, most Hispanic women are ugly and scary? 
No, advertizing folk/marketers/designers for a mass-appeal product want to appeal to the greatest number of folk for a given ad buck and given particular employer conditions ("diversity" conditions included). To check off the "hispanic" box, the usual effort is to find an attractive mostly-anglo woman who looks sorta-spanish so folk can assume what they will. Older folks see an attractive brunette and hispanics see one of theirs. Such a gal is a documented two-fer (female, hispanic) with an appeal to non-hispanic folk that a "straight outta Oaxaca" model would not have.
If that is too complex, perhaps the following will help. You are in charge of advertising or the look/feel of a product that is supposed to have mass appeal. Given you have to include a black male in adverts, pamphlets, & the website, do you choose Taye Diggs or Dennis Rodman as your model? Both classified as black and male, but one is going to have broader appeal. Or, put negatively, one is going to be scarier to the non-black majority than the other. Matter of fact, Dennis Rodman may even be considered "butt ugly" to a large slice of folks.
In the case of this model, she was more than likely upper-class Columbian or decended from such and may have not have a drop of NA indian blood in her as is my SIL. Still get to check the "hispanic" box, though.
