Brazil to bring the Carnival to New York

When I first looked at the shortlist for this year’s prestigious New York Festivals International Advertising Awards, the first thing that struck me was the huge number of campaigns from Brazil. This is certainly not a one off either – Brazil is now one of the hottest places for the best creative campaigns in the world. There are two entries that really stood out for me – both are stunningly insightful and creative and even better – both have a common goal – to help society – which is always a bonus too…

Agency: Leo Burnett Tailor Brazil
Campaign: ABTO “Bentley Burial”

Count Scarpa is an eccentric and controversial Brazilian billionaire with a habit of doing crazy things. He captivated all of Brazil through a single Facebook post announcing that in homage to the Egyptian pharaohs, he would bury his beloved $500,000 Bentley luxury car in his garden. The planned burial instantaneously became fodder for tabloids and talk shows, and the Brazilian public was outraged over the absurdity of such a seemingly wasteful act. Over the course of a week, the Count’s Facebook page documented the burial plans in progress, as the Count dug a large hole in his garden and discussed the details of his Bentley’s Friday morning burial. But on the day of the burial there was a big surprise for the media heavy guests that attended…the video says it best.

Youtube here

Agency: Almap BBDO – Brazil
Campaign: Antarctica Beer Turnstile

Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival is always an outrageous and generally happy spectacle. One negative though is after a hard day and night partying attendees drink drive home – which is exactly what the main-sponsor of the event, Antarctica beer, hoped party-goers would not do.

Working with Brazil’s Alma BBDO, they came up with a highly creative campaign called the ‘Beer Turnstile’. The clever concept accompanied the potent message of ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’, by encouraging carnival attendees to arrive home safely via public transportation with the use of the ‘Beer Turnstile’ at the metro station. The metro turnstiles were re-engineered for the event as they accepted empty Antarctica beer cans as metro tickets. All a person had to do was scan the can and they were allowed to proceed to the train platforms – no cash was necessary.

The turnstiles proved to be a huge success, as the number of drunk drivers caught after the Carnival dropped by a staggering (excuse pun) 43%.

I think both these campaigns are brilliant and prove Brazil certainly is ‘the nuts’ when it comes to creativity.

By DMA guest blogger Richard Dutton, Business Development Director, Arc Worldwide and DMA Brand Activation Council Chair