The decoration of , on the coast of , sparked political debate on social media after the city hall replaced Santa Claus’s traditional colors with green and yellow.
The choice of colors has been interpreted by internet users as an attempt to associate the Christmas image with veiled support for the former president’s political group (PL). The city is known for being one of the former president’s electoral strongholds, having registered a large vote in his candidacy.
The current mayor of the municipality of Santa Catarina is Fabrício Oliveira, from . In a statement, the city hall said that the decoration concept “seeks to symbolize prosperity and exclusivity”.
The green and yellow monument was erected in Praia Almirante Tamandaré, on Praia Central, one of the main beaches in the city.
The figure appears in videos published on the city hall’s official profile, which also show other representations of Santa Claus in the traditional colors at the location. According to the municipality, the colors were chosen to convey values associated with the city’s tourist potential and the recovery of childhood memories.
Because of the new outfit, internet users nicknamed the Christmas doll “patriotic Santa Claus”.
A user of the social network X (formerly Twitter) said that the good old man dressed as “an authentic patriot” is ridiculous.
Others praised: “I loved this patriotic Santa Claus. Without the red, he looked beautiful.”
In 2022, despite being defeated by President Lula (PT), the then candidate for re-election Jair Bolsonaro obtained 74.5% of the valid votes in Balneário Camboriú.
Considered one of the main Bolsonarist hubs, the municipality elected in October as the councilor with the most votes the youngest son of the former president, Jair Renan Bolsonaro, 26, also from PL.
In July, the city hosted the CPAC Brasil (Conservative Political Action Conference) event, a summit of the South American radical right that included the participation of the president of Argentina, and the former candidate for president of Chile, José António Kast, defeated by Gabriel Boric in 2021, in addition to Bolsonaro himself.
The son of the former president, federal deputy (PL), and the federal deputy (PL) also participated.
The red color traditionally used in Christmas decorations was also replaced at the Beiramar shopping mall, in the capital Florianópolis. Images circulating on the internet show Santa Claus wearing white and gold clothes, and internet users questioned whether there were political reasons.
In a statement, the mall denied the relationship with partisan issues. “All the decoration, as well as the communication of the Doce Natal campaign, follows the candy color palette, which has a predominance of soft, delicate colors, in pastel tones”, stated the mall, which said it was taking legal measures to combat fake news .
