For 37 years straight, the people of São Paulo celebrated the city’s birthday with a giant cake, almost 500 meters long. But the tradition didn’t survive COVID, and it was canceled permanently by the organizers in 2023. A harsh blow for Paulistas, who’d been anxiously awaiting the return of the city’s liveliest party.

Perdigão wanted to be a part of São Paulo’s birthday celebrations, since it makes the city’s most iconic ingredient: mortadella. Just as New York is known for its pastrami, São Paulo is known for its mortadella.

To grow even closer to Paulistas, Perdigão decided to save the city’s long-standing birthday party – not with a cake, but with the world’s biggest mortadella sandwich, as certified by Guinness.

For 37 years straight, the people of São Paulo celebrated the city’s birthday with a giant cake, almost 500 meters long. But the tradition didn’t survive the pandemic, and it was canceled permanently by the organizers in 2023.

Perdigão is one of the largest food manufacturers in Brazil.

And while they don’t make sweets, they do make the city’s most iconic ingredient.

Mortadella. Just as important as pastrami is to New York, mortadella is a part of São Paulo;s culture.

So instead of a cake, Perdigão decided to save the city’s long-standing birthday celebration with the world’s biggest mortadella sandwich, as certified by Guinness, at an open party attended by thousands of people.

Perdigão wanted to be a part of São Paulo’s birthday party, since it produces the city’s most iconic ingredient: mortadella. Just as New York is known for its pastrami, São Paulo is known for its mortadella. And when we found out that the city’s birthday cake had been canceled for a lack of sponsors, Perdigão decided to keep the party going by inviting everyone to devour the world’s largest mortadella sandwich. A present from Perdigão to match Latin America’s largest city.

In under two weeks, we were able to promote and organize the preparation of the world’s largest mortadella sandwich. The event was held on the anniversary of the city’s founding, January 25th, 2023, in a space in the city’s biggest park. The sandwich was Guinness-certified, and then handed out to the thousands of people who attended the party. The event was also covered by hundreds of influencers, as well as major media outlets, CNN among them.

Our mortadella sandwich made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest in the world. Plus, our initiative was able to rack up 120MM spontaneous impressions and over 12MM interactions on social media. As well as kicking off a new tradition, of course – from now on, São Paulo’s birthday will be celebrated with a giant sandwich, in a huge party for all São Paulo.