Our work with Coca-Cola.
Diversifying entertainment
to be more indicative
of the population.
Insight.
With racial tensions in Brazil at an all-time high, the Black population is facing an uphill battle in a country where racial inequality is ingrained. In a moment of increasing hatred, Coca Cola decided to do something unprecedented: They partnered with a major TV broadcaster to create a Christmas special in the format the country loves most, a soap opera.
To create a new Christmas story, Coca-Cola took over a traditional Christmas Special show that millions of Brazilians watch every year and presented the first Black Santa on Brazilian TV. The brand that created many symbols of the holiday and has spread its magic for almost 100 years now reinvented Santa Claus to talk about a very necessary topic in Brazil: representation.
While 54% of the Brazilian population is black, 92% of actors on TV are white. The show became the first soap opera where all the main characters are black.
The script presented a family that is short on money and still feeling the recent loss of the grandma. Orlando, the grandfather, decides to seek work as a shopping-mall Santa. He faces prejudice, but the magic happens as he becomes the Santa of the Coca-Cola Truck Tour.
Case study.
“Our idea was to remind people that, despite the differences, there are greater ties that unite us.”
Latin America Coca-Cola TM Lead
LinkedIn
Poliana Sousa
“Since Santa Claus emerged with Coca-Cola, nothing better than the brand itself speaking and giving birth to an agenda that is still so necessary: racial equality.”
Executive Chairman
WMcCann
Hugo Rodrigues
