There are few things in Brazil that are more transversal than chanclas: in the absence of a reliable census, we could decide, without fear of being wrong, that each of the 213 million Brazilians owns at least one pair of chanclas with a classic toe: a rubber sandal, basic, rudimentary, comfortable. A purely Brazilian image. Havaianas (it’s been a long time since we confused the brand with the object) are (or were) practically a national brand, one of those brands that do good all over the world… Until now.
An advertising campaign has triggered the anger of the far right, which has sparked a boycott campaign on the networks in recent days. All this comes down to an innocent announcement in which actress Fernanda Torres, this year’s winner of the Globo de Oro, addresses viewers saying that they do not want to embark on 2026 “with the right foot”, but “with the feet”. “Ve a por todos, de corpo y alma, de la cabeza a los pies,” he says in the recording, sitting on a chair on the beach, smiling and without intuition, not on land, where I see myself falling on top of it.
For the Bolsonaro movement, renouncing the “pie derecho” is a clear allusion to the conservative camp, yet another indirect attack against the voters of the derecho. The conspiratorial delirium has not stopped among a handful of enlightened men. Federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the ex-president, recorded a video in which he expressed his immense frustration: “I thought it was a national symbol, I saw a lot of foreigners with the Brazilian flag on the ground, but I was wrong,” he said. Other politicians with millions of followers on the networks, like the young Nikolas Ferreira, also took the car. Havaianas-owned Alpargatas started to lose more than 2% of its market value due to the inverter scare, but regained it the next day.
The hate campaign also concerns its protagonist, “an izquierda character”, according to Bolsonaro’s son. Torres, one of the best actresses of her generation, spent a year racking up plaudits and awards for her portrayal of Eunice Paiva in I’m still herea film on the memory of the Brazilian military dictatorship. Walter Salles’ Oscar-winning film for best foreign film was a phenomenon in the country, but for the most recalcitrant part of the right, it was an uncomfortable mirror in which to look itself. Torres, moreover, barely participated in the demonstrations against the reduction of sentences for those convicted of attempted coup d’état, including Bolsonaro, whom he has just put in the diana of the far right.
On the battlefield of social media, the government seemed to speak alone, but when the subject came out of its anger, the majority of Brazil responded with bemusement first, and then with memes. The jokes about ghostly enemies came as Havaianas won an unprecedented ad campaign for free. In 48 hours, he went from four to 4.3 million followers on Instagram. The Alpargatas company is one of the fashion giants in Brazil, with a market value of around $1.4 billion. The derecha is now banking on Ipanema, the benchmark of the competition. The polarization of Brazil has reached its feet. Now there are left rights and rights.
The Havaianas brand was born in 1962 and is part of the emotional memory of all Brazilians. His chancla model is patented and in the 1980s, with the inflation crisis, the government classified it as a commodity to control prices. In the 90s, Jean Paul Gaultier walked the runway for the first time and since then its growth has been unstoppable. Today, the brand is sold all over the world, at prices that are multiplying from its country of origin, where it can still be bought for the equivalent of five or six dollars everywhere: from supermarkets to kiosks and pharmacies. The brand has just launched a collaboration with Dolce & Gabanna and hired Gigi Hadid as its first global ambassador. However, the company’s strategy aims to please everyone. The motto, of course, is “Todo el mundo las usa”. However, this consensus seems to have broken down.
More than one analyst has tried to attribute this latest bolsonarista spejismo to the delicate moment in which the Brazilian extremist government is passing, something disoriented and without a solid narrative unfolding. The leader of the movement is incarcerated and is serving a 27-year prison sentence for the putschist. President Donald Trump, who for months threatened Brazil with threats and sanctions to try to stop Bolsonaro’s justice, weakened the defense and posed smiling with Lula da Silva, who currently appears in all polls as the clear favorite to win this year’s elections. Deputy Eduardo, who moved to the USA to develop this failed arrest strategy to save his priest, has just lost his mandate as deputy and also had to launch these old challenges so as not to have to return his diplomatic passport.
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