Through a direct communication action, we generated unprecedented interaction with a specific target: people who were moved by the attacks on the Brazilian Congress on January 8, 2023. Through a simple and assertive strategy, Mercado Livre showed its position, generating consumer engagement and reinforcing its values.

On the morning of January 8, 2023, Brazil watched in shock as scenes on TV showed a group of far-right protesters, dissatisfied with the election results, invading the National Congress, vandalizing public property, and threatening a military coup. The images went viral. In the most famous of them, a hooded man raised the original Brazilian Federal Constitution as a trophy, stolen from the presidential office. The most important document of the nation, responsible for safeguarding its freedom and democracy.

Mercado Livre is the country's largest e-commerce company, with progress and freedom as its core values. It decided to make its position clear, even when all other brands preferred to remain silent. Hours after the episode, Mercado Livre announced a flash promotion that gave 99% off on all editions of the federal constitution available on their platform, so that no Brazilian would ever forget the value of democracy.

A few hours after the episode that shocked the country, Mercado Livre decided to take a bombastic stand: it launched a flash promotion that gave 99% off on all existing editions of the federal constitution available in its inventory. And so, by making the book that anti-democratic acts attempted to destroy more accessible, no Brazilian would ever forget the value of democracy again.

Faced with the tragic events, the strategy was to act quickly. Make the brand's position as clear as possible, but in a way that only an e-commerce platform could do. The solution was an unusual promotion, with a discount that would be impossible to ignore. Obviously, this promotional action was not aimed at any profit for the platform, other than generating unprecedented visibility and engagement. The more books sold, the more constitutions would be spread throughout the country.

The target audience was composed of Brazilians 18+, ACB, with any interest in community problems, rights protection and related issues.

With minimal investment, there were 2 placements: a full-page ad in the country's main newspaper (Folha de São Paulo) with a QR code that gave direct access to the promotion and 1 post published on the brand's social media and boosted with a modest investment.

In the morning after the events that lasted all night, Mercado Livre decided to take a stand about the invasion of the Brazilian congress. In a matter of hours, we developed a promotion that would give a 99% discount on the units of the federal constitution for sale on the platform. The entire logistics operation was done within hours. One post was shared on the brand's social media (Instagram and Twitter) and one print ad, a full page in one of the country's main newspapers, was published.

With just 1 social media post and 1 print ad, we sold out the entire stock of the company's books in just 4 hours.

There were over 15k scans of the QR code in the print ad in one day and over 110k total visits to the ad on the platform.

The campaign resulted in the largest book sale in Mercado Livre's 25-year history, making the Constitution the best-selling book in the country that week.

It was also the biggest peak of sales for federal constitutions in the history of the country, in a short period of time.

The post became the most commented post in the brand's history.

The idea became news, reaching headlines around the world.

- $5.5 MM EARNED MEDIA

- 1.5 BILLION IMPRESSIONS

Brazil is one of the largest democracies in the world but is currently experiencing its most politically polarized moment. The country recently lived through the terror of a military dictatorship for 21 years, having more than 400 people disappeared. And never since its redemocratization has Brazil come so close to a new military coup as on January 8th. Throughout the day, the country was stunned by the scenes on TV. Despite traditionally not liking to get involved in complicated political issues, this episode reached all Brazilians, making history in the country.

The invasion of Congress was a result of a growing political polarization that had been dividing the country for years. The current president defeated the extreme-right candidate (Jair Bolsonaro) by only 1% of valid votes. And because the country is so divided, most brands are afraid to take sides, even when one of them violates democratic principles.