The 2022 Qatar World Cup posed a unique set of challenges. The World Cup is impossible to ignore, but how could brands and businesses engage in the biggest game on earth with their integrity intact?

MEO, the leading Portuguese Telecom brand, has sponsored the national team for over 25 years. The brand relies on the World Cup as a major part of its marketing strategy. But the brand also has a long history as a vocal advocate for global social responsibility, with a proud history of taking a stand on issues of social justice such as violence against women, food waste and ocean conservation. MEO’s tagline, “Humaniza-te” literally translates as “Humanize” yourself. A brand with such a heritage had stay true to its values.

The challenge was to balance its commercial obligations, its commitment to the Portuguese team and its ethical principles.

MEO created The Forgotten Team, a football team in tribute to the thousands of migrant workers who died building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Team’s jersey was inspired by the Human Rights Act Article 4: Freedom from slavery and forced labour. A team made to be embraced by the 10.33 million people in Portugal.

Creating a new football team for supporters of human rights was the perfect way to gain awareness in a nation heavily focused on football. Through social media, activations, and a tiny yellow button. The jersey quickly became a powerful symbol of bravery and resilience.

The lack of action from most brands involved in the tournament added to the significance of the Forgotten Team. That fact only increased the impact of the campaign. It was game-changer in the industry, inspiring other brands on the importance of brand values, purpose-driven marketing, and authenticity.

The campaign leveraged the power of football fandom in Portugal to raise awareness about the human rights violations and raise funds for the families of the victims. MEO redirected its resources from the World Cup in Qatar to promote human rights and tapped into the passion of football fans and their desire to see the sport played with dignity and respect for all. The campaign utilized various channels to reach its target audience, including the yellow button on the TV remote to leverage the high viewership of the matches. Data was gathered on viewership and engagement patterns during the matches to identify the best times to air the Yellow Button ad. The approach involved using the existing platform of MEO’s TV interface. The call to action was for viewers to click the Yellow Button during matches to learn more about the campaign, ultimately driving donations and support for the cause.

The campaign was launched with the iconic jersey, to honor the workers who lost their lives. The bright yellow color and reflective stripes were inspired by the workers' vests, printed with Article 4 of the Human Rights Act. It served as a wearable call to action for supporters of human rights and generated national buzz. The jerseys were made available for purchase through MEO where all proceedings went to Amnesty International.

During each world-cup game broadcast, viewers could hit the yellow button on their remote control and uncover the true story behind the glory. It became a symbol of remembrance and a call to action for viewers to donate to the cause with 230k clicks.

The scale of the project was massive, reaching 98% of Portugal.

The Forgotten Team jerseys are still being sent to future World Cup hosts as a reminder that this tragedy cannot happen again.

From hospitals to schools, from gamers to surfers, the jersey was everywhere. A president of a political party (PAN) even wore the jersey in parliament. The campaign reached a national audience through media coverage and social media. With almost 9.9M people impacted, 98% of the country. The campaign generated 1.5M of earned media and 127K shared media. The yellow button itself accounted for almost 27k euros of the total 160k euros raised through the campaign.

According to the World Football Qatar 2022 study, prepared by Scopen, the campaign was best evaluated by 75% of those who contacted the action, surpassing the evaluations of bigger global brands, such as Coca-cola, Nike or Macdonalds. MEO saw its association as a brand of causes grow by 6 percentage points, an extremely positive outcome. To this day the jersey is still used in public humanitarian protests and manifestations.