The political polarization in Brazil has reached chocolate wafers

Bis used to be just a crispy wafer filled and covered with chocolate but from October 2023, it turned into a rubric to evaluate ideological preferences. The political polarization that Brazil has been experiencing for years now also includes chocolate wafers.

For those who don’t know what happened: Lacta, a company founded in 1912 and now owned by the multinational Mondelēz, conducted a marketing campaign for Bis, using the gamer/influencer/YouTuber Felipe Neto as their spokesperson. Looking bored – while sitting in a private jet –, he posed with two boxes of the chocolate wafers.

This was enough for people who can’t stand Felipe Neto – due to his hardcore adhesion to the Workers’ Party (PT) views – to start a social media campaign with the hashtag #BisNuncaMais (#BisNeverAgain). Now the chocolate wafer brand bears the status of a leftist snack. This reputation has already become a heavy burden for a product to carry. The damage could have stopped there, but a further step was taken by two distinguished senators of the Republic: Randolfe Rodrigues, an independent senator from the state of Amapá, and Humberto Costa, a member of the Workers’ Party (PT) from the state of Pernambuco. They decided to promote posts with the smiles of virtue-signaling spokespersons, holding their boxes of Bis boxes and mixing, in the same sentence, chocolate and ivermectin – medicine said to prevent hospitalization due to COVID-19, which created controversy during the pandemic. Another PT’s representative, Maria do Rosário, also joined in. They all decided to fight exploitative capitalism by endorsing for an American multinational company.

The right-wing chocolate

The other side responded by posting photos with the rival product, KitKat, from Nestlé. Former First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro even posted a video with the hashtag #BisComunista (#BisCommunist). Upon seeing that their blue wafer was turning into a profanity, the manufacturer released an official statement that read, “Mondelēz Brasil, the manufacturer of Bis, reaffirms that their choice of influencers as spokespersons is solely based on their relevance in the gaming and entertainment universe, without political ties of any kind.”

By exclusion, the militant press began calling anyone who simply doesn’t like Bis or Felipe Neto a “pro-Bolsonaro” And KitKat became the “right-wing” chocolate wafer. Feasting on the political debate, everyone forgot that KitKat launched, just two years ago, a campaign that radically supported the LGBTQIA+ cause.

After the last dots were finally connected, it was discovered that the CEO of Mondelēz Brasil, Liel Miranda, is part of the Council for Sustainable Social and Economic Development, the so-called “Lula Council.” This council, which had been abolished by former president Jair Bolsonaro, was resurrected under Lula’s administration, with the support of… Felipe Neto. Other members of the council include Josué Gomes (president of the Federation of São Paulo State’s Industries – Fiesp), Luiza Helena Trajano (chairperson of the retailer Magazine Luiza), Neca Setúbal (heir of the bank Itaú), Bela Gil (content creator), Ayala Ferreira (leader of Movement of Homeless Workers – MTST), and Father Júlio Lancellotti (Catholic Church’s Social Ministry for Homeless People – Pastoral do Povo de Rua). Need I go on?

The power of a hashtag

To add insult to the chocolate factory’s injury, Pleno News reported, “The effect on Mondelēz after the announcement of the partnership with YouTuber Felipe Neto this week transcended the boundaries of social media and had a direct impact on the conglomerate’s finances. On the Brazilian stock exchange, the shares of the Bis brand owner plummeted and closed on Friday, October 13, with a drop higher than 5% compared to the previous Friday.”

For what is worth, the truth is stock price had been dropping since October 4. All things considered, a question remains: is this scenario related to the marketing campaign, or was it a downward trend due to other factors? Felipe Neto’s photo was posted on October 10. Oeste requested a technical assessment of this decline from Mondelēz, but the company has not responded so far. However, it seems highly unlikely that a social media boycott in Brazil could cause such a significant drop in a global corporation’s stock due to a mere hashtag.

The hotel daily rate of 18,000 euros

Upon realizing the damage, Felipe Neto posted a video on his YouTube channel titled “Goodbye,” in which he asked for a truce. In this video, he claimed: “I kind of became an icon in this political battle. I don’t regret the fight I waged against the Bolsonaro regime, and I’m sure we were victorious in the end. Not just because of the election victory but also because he’s already ineligible. This public persona wear and tear caused the channel to plummet in sponsorships. It nose-dived to zero. Nobody wanted to associate their brand with a guy hated by, I don’t know, 25% of the voters.” Despite the financial crisis caused by his idealism, Felipe shared that he stayed in a hotel in Paris with an average daily rate equivalent to more than € 18,000 because he wanted to be treated “like Beyoncé.” He stayed another ten days in the French capital at another hotel, spending the average per night of € 2,300.

Felipe Neto was born 35 years ago in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Of humble origins, he’s an undeniably talented entrepreneur and has lucratively used social network and other new media. He spends his days posting videos of himself playing games like Minecraft, with live streaming on various platforms, among other contents. His YouTube channel has 45.6 million subscribers, and he has 16.6 million followers on Twitter and 17.4 million on Instagram. He sells product placements (like Bis) on these platforms for a substantial amount of money.

According to the news website NSC Total, Felipe claimed to earn around US$ 13 million per year. The site reports that Felipe owns a mansion in Barra da Tijuca, a neighborhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro, appraised at over US$ 1 million and an estimated US$ 60,000 BMW X6. Among other assets, he has an Apple Mac Pro, priced at around US$ 29,000, and an extravagant item: a limited-edition Dupont pen that he acquired for US$ 2,000.

Felipe Neto has finally become an influencer in the truest sense of the word. The problem is that those who influence (especially children) should consider and be far more cautious about each and every thing they say or do. Felipe Neto has an evident difficulty in weighing his actions and having his behavior challenged. Consistency is not his strong suit. His fiery opinions are erratic, which can be dangerous for those who are influenced by the influencer.

“The impeachment of the demon”

A video still circulates on YouTube where Felipe Neto shouts with fiery eyes, “Shove it up your @$$, Lula! Go f@%# yourself, Lula! You are a piece of crap! You are a corrupt piece of crap! You can sue me, Lula. I called you corrupt, yes, and if you complain, I’ll call you that again. You can file 35 lawsuits, and I’ll make another video.”

In 2016, he was a hardcore advocate for the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff, as it can be found on Wikipedia: “Presentations are over in Brasília, now we just need the result for the impeachment of the demon.” In 2017, he declared his vote for Jair Bolsonaro: “So, like this: voting for Lula, under any circumstances, against any candidate, I won’t. Lula against the ‘gorilla Malaquias’? I’ll vote for the Gorilla. Although Bolsonaro represents many things that I think are wrong in the world, if it were him against Lula, I think I wouldn’t have a choice. I would have to vote for him.”

Suddenly, he took a 180-degree turn and joined the “genocidal Bolsonaro” wave (which accuses the former President of the Republic of promoting the genocide of Brazilians during the COVID-19 pandemic mainly due to inefficient vaccination policy and the spread of misinformation). Last year, he declared support for the same candidate he had called a “corrupt piece of crap.” He publicly confessed his change of heart: “Yesterday, I could look into president Dilma’s eyes and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for spreading anti-PT sentiment, the coup rhetoric, and hatred of the left. The love she gave me in return is something I can’t even explain to you. It’s this love that will win on November 2nd [date of the second round of the 2023 presidential election].”

All this means that mixing advertising and activism often goes wrong. This was the case with the retailer Target, which incurred US$10 billion in losses when it launched the Pride collection with clothing for the LGBT+ and ‘occultist’ consumers.

This “love” that won the 2023 presidential election manifested itself on multiple occasions, according to research by NSC Total. Felipe Neto told The New York Times that former president Jair Bolsonaro was “the worst COVID-19 president in the world” and compared Brazil to a “burning house.” He clashed with Pastor Silas Malafaia in 2017 over a gay kiss in a Disney series. He also fought with then-Rio de Janeiro mayor Marcelo Crivella in 2019 over another gay kiss, this time in a Marvel comic book.

He engaged in a legal battle with actress and talk show host Antônia Fontenelle. He had a dispute with singer Biel over allegations of sexual harassment involving the singer and a journalist. He criticized soccer player Neymar for not kneeling for George Floyd in 2020. He took issue with talk show host Pedro Bial, who had stated that he would only interview president Lula with a lie detector and decided that he would never appear on Rede Globo again because of it.

He criticized sertanejo singers in general for not taking a stand against Jair Bolsonaro. He had a public feud with fellow influencer Carlinhos Maia (another supporter of the Workers’ Party with a McLaren worth about US$ 500,000) for hosting a Christmas party during the pandemic but had to apologize after a video surfaced showing Felipe playing soccer with friends in the same period. Like an inquisitor, he became known for the slogan “no amnesty,” which he used against anyone who dared to oppose his new leader. He advocated for straightforward censorship of “coup supporters” and enthusiastically supported the wave of layoffs at the radio and TV network Jovem Pan.

Advertising & Virtue signaling

Felipe Neto’s fortune is unlikely to be even scratched by the Bis incident. However, if he continues with this uncontrollable fury, he may face issues with sponsors in the future. Felipe Neto appears to take the real world for a video game where enemies come up from all sides and must be destroyed for him to score more points.

Mondelēz might learn a lesson from this. In times of extreme political polarization, any misstep can be fatal. Due to his political activism, Felipe Neto will have millions of followers, but probably an equal number of people who can’t stand him and will hate anything associated with him. And as PT’s politicians decide to join the cause and showcase themselves with boxes of Bis, the product’s image gets completely compromised. The official brand’s account on X/Twitter hasn’t posted anything since October 11.

Combining advertising with virtue signaling usually goes wrong. Cristyan Costa, a reporter for Oeste, published on June 9 a list of advertising campaigns that decided to embrace leftist causes and failed. This was the case with the retailer Target, which suffered a US$10 billion loss after launching the “Pride collection, featuring LGBT+ and ‘occult’ clothing with satanic imagery, targeted at children.” Balenciaga did something similar, with children “holding stuffed bears and sadomasochistic accessories (collars, keys, locks, and handcuffs), which resulted in a boycott, store units being vandalized, Balenciaga items being destroyed on YouTube. In the United States, a country where beer is linked to masculinity, Anheuser-Busch decided to launch Bud Light using a transgender digital influencer, which made the company lose US$5 billion.”

Virtual bullying at a premium

The Bis chocolate case reveals a deeper issue. When a mere chocolate snack is considered “left-wing” (or “right-wing”), it’s a sign that political discourse has reached new levels of intellectual poverty in Brazil. The perpetual state of ideological warfare on all levels – even in something as trivial as chocolate – cannot lead to anything constructive. Influencers who spread messages full of hatred and snarling will need to rethink their actions. The logic of cancellation is showing its self-destructive power.

“The public has started to understand the dynamics of cancel culture,” wrote journalist Madeleine Lacsko. “This kind of action instigates a series of real people with emotional issues who engage in attacks, seeking a sense of belonging and virtue signaling. For many years, this has made a lot of money for many influencers. Several influencers who make a living from virtual bullying are hired at a premium by large companies for inclusion or diversity training. When a company aligns with a cancel culture advocate, it brings this atmosphere into the business. People no longer fall for the talk or feel intimidated by the swarm of friendly influencers and bots. It’s time to stop rewarding the ones who promote the cancel culture.”

“To treat lynchers as liberators is a shame,” wrote Guilherme Fiuza in this edition of Oeste. “It’s too shameful to try to create ethics idols from figures whose modus operandi is to point fingers, demand heads on plates, invent monstrous enemies, incite the mob against those they sentenced to death, orchestrate silencing, practice snitching, slandering, coercing, and lynching.”