Maria Gasolina, or Gasoline Mary, is a derogatory Brazilian expression used to describe women solely interested in men for their cars. GTA players could visit an Ipiranga service station in the metaverse and meet Maria–the first female service station owner in Brazil both IRL and in the metaverse. Our goal was to redefine what a Maria Gasolina really is: a strong, powerful and independent woman at home in the car industry.

In Brazil, gas stations are a very sexist place. Most of the employers are men—there’s no such thing as self-service—and car culture is still very male-driven. Our main task was to make sure that Ipiranga would keep its position as the intellectual leader of this category, especially helping the Brazilian fuel company speak to younger audiences, but above all do this in such a way that prioritises cultural norms and values and presents Ipiranga as a brand that cares deeply about diversity, equity and an inclusive future.

We entered the metaverse to talk about sexism in car culture. In Brazil, gas stations are a very sexist place. Most of the employers are men and car culture is still very male-driven. Maria Gasolina is a derogatory expression that’s used in Brazil to describe women that are solely interested in men for their cars. We wanted people to reconsider the meaning of this term—and ultimately redefine Maria Gasolina’s meaning: a strong, powerful and independent woman who feels at home in the automotive industry.

Keeping in mind Ipiranga’s goal to get rid of the stereotypical image of women not knowing anything about the car industry, we decided to tell the story of Maria, the first female owner of a service station in Brazil. In partnership with the major GTA 5 roleplay server Complexo, we created a virtual Ipiranga service station, with all the trimmings—thereby not only helping Ipiranga enter the metaverse, but also rebuilding the service station once owned by Maria. We asked one of the most popular female video game streamers in Brazil, naming her Maria Gasolina, to livestream the service station in the world of GTA, and made her the owner of the virtual service station and the main point of contact for any information about the experience. This way, we were able to redefine this term: Maria Gasolina is a strong, powerful and independent woman who is an automotive expert.

With the aim to reach a younger audience, we decided to help Ipiranga enter the metaverse and talk about a much debated topic: sexism in car culture. Both the car and the gaming industry are very much male-dominated. That's why we chose GTA5 the perfect platform to spread our message. “Maria Gasolina” is one of the most old-school sexist expressions in Brazil, which is intended to refer to women who are solely interested in men for their cars. So, we wanted to flip the script and use this expression in a way that changes people’s perspective on it, while entertaining our audience in a positive way in order to reinforce the brand’s values of diversity, equity and inclusion and focus on an equal future for all.

The service station stayed in the game for 3 months. Staying true to what we know works and attracts gamers to GTA, we made sure that players had the freedom to explore the whole map and discover all kinds of different characters through the roleplay experience. Furthermore, there were a number of missions for players to embark on. First of all, people regularly pulled over to refuel their cars, as we had the best gas prices inside the game. While at our service station, gamers could rent electric cars, go for an exciting Stock Car race with the Ipiranga Racing Team car, or visit a convenience store (AM/PM) to buy energy drinks or food to increase their player's life—all of which was presented by Maria Gasolina as the owner and showrunner.

The project was designed to leave a long-lasting impact on Brazilian culture. Our goal was to completely overthrow the meaning of the term ‘Maria Gasolina’ and make sure that everyone knows about it.

- More than 70 million people watched our Gasoline Mary activation or read about it, and their support for our new definition managed to break the internet.

- The result exceeded our wildest expectations: Maria Gasolina’s Wikipedia page and definition in the online dictionary were rewritten. In other words, we were able to change a previously derogatory term into a new empowering expression for women in Brazil—all through the power of the metaverse.

We entered the metaverse to talk about sexism in car culture. Maria Gasolina is a derogatory expression that’s used in Brazil to describe women that are solely interested in men for their cars. We wanted people to reconsider the meaning of this term—and ultimately redefine Maria Gasolina’s meaning: a strong, powerful and independent woman who feels at home in the automotive industry.