Have you ever stopped to think that, in the great theater of social networks, the only difference between an actor and an ordinary user is that the former admits that he is acting?
Open Instagram now. What do you see?
Filters that slim the nose and “correct” the skin to simulate unattainable beauty. Declarations of eternal love in captions from couples who, in real life, barely talk during dinner. Photos strategically positioned in front of imported cars or in lobbies of five-star hotels to showcase a meteoric career – often, without even knowing the owner of the car or the hotel suite.
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We are living in an era of undeclared avatars. We create versions of ourselves on social media, edited and curated, hoping to sell success, happiness and fulfillment. But herein lies the great irony of our time: the more people try to appear real through lies, the more the audience falls in love with those who openly lie.
We are seeing the rise of the characters. And the reason is simple: the declared character has become more authentic than the “real” person. When someone puts on a wig or puts on an exaggerated accent, the contract with the audience is an honest one: “I’m faking it.” And, in this relief of truth, true connection happens.
The Jorginho phenomenon: when “mine!” turned into millions
The most emblematic example of this thesis is . Graduated in Physical Education and creative by vocation, he understood something that few corporate brands captured: the essence of the tribe. Fausto did not need to invent a parallel reality. He just observed the reality around him – the “Faria Lima”, the Beach Tennis, the sneakers, the nylon vest – and turned up the volume. Thus was born Jorginho.
Jorginho is not Fausto, but Fausto inhabits Jorginho. The character, with his catchphrase “hey, my!” and his stories about “artisan crafts” and “unicorn startups,” he became a mirror of an entire social class.
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The result?
Where many lifestyle influencers struggle to prove relevance, Fausto turned the joke into million-dollar contracts. Today, he earns a lot of money from advertising for large companies (including XP), fills theaters with lectures and shows, and moves in the same circles that his character satirizes.
He proved that, when creating a caricature, you gain the freedom to tell truths that, with a “clean face”, would sound offensive or arrogant.
There is a significant change happening here. In the past, comedy characters followed the logic of bullying: the target was the “other” and, generally, the minority (the poor, the northeast, the gay, the alcoholic).
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The joke is now on. Or rather, inside. And Fausto is not the only creator who realized this.
Characters like o or a (from model Marcela Eduarda Lopes Schreiner) do not mock the disadvantaged; they satirize the bubble itself.
Even calling her followers “unfortunate” (who love the “affectionate” nickname, by the way), the focus of Cela’s joke is on the preppy girl, alienated from reality. The character’s success is such that its creator ended up becoming (look, another irony), in fact, a millionaire. In fact, I already mentioned the drinks brand that Cela created and which works almost as a “narrative accessory”.
The most fascinating?
The satirized “elite” itself is not offended. On the contrary, she loves it. Being made fun of or shared by Jorginho or Cela became a certificate of belonging. The bubble laughs to itself, relieved that someone would expose its secret codes so lightly.
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This is the case, for example, with my friend from . The other day, a video of him talking about remote work vs. in-person work ended up in his profile feed (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, ). Regardless of his opinion on the subject, the most curious thing is that many people, when watching it, couldn’t tell whether it was “real” or not.
This ambiguity even opens doors for the eponymous character, where creator and creature share the same CPF.
A is living proof that you don’t need to invent an alter ego with a different name, you just need to have the freedom to mitigate the caricatures of a specific reality. She built a gigantic community mocking the pains of the CLT universe, which she lived with for years (the endless meetings, the toxic boss, the Sunday night anxiety). Another irony? By turning her old routine into a joke, she became much more successful than in the years when she tried to take this same reality seriously.
In the end, the audience would rather love a badass character than a supposedly real person who tries to sell unattainable perfection. At least, we know that the character is being “authentic” in his interpretation. Unlike that “stage guru”, who promises the first million in seven days…
Blacksmith’s house, steel spit: the birth of Vini Startupeiro
I could not end this reflection by just focusing on theory. Recently, I also wrote about , who broke the saying that “in a blacksmith’s house, the skewer is made of wood”, applying the strategies she teaches to herself.
I decided to drink my own medicine. Or rather, my own pitch.
I decided to do a practical test and bring to life a figure that inhabits the imagination of the ecosystem where I live: I present to you (thanks in advance to anyone who follows him on Instagram and/or TikTok – @ViniStartupeiro).
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Vini is a loving tribute (with hints of satire, of course) to all the entrepreneurs I’ve ever met (including myself). He personifies that founder who uses excessive English terms, who is always one meeting away from “becoming the unicorn”, and who often needs to appear much bigger than he is in order to survive.
It’s not empty mockery. It is a recognition that, in entrepreneurship, we often need to wear the hero’s cape before we even have superpowers, precisely to try to transform ourselves into what we want to be. Vini is the exacerbation of this anguish and this ironic ambition (I’m ready for the repost, Festa da Firma).
And what is your character?
If authentic content is the new viral… And if entrepreneurship has become entertainment… Perhaps, the quickest strategy to grow your personal brand is not to try to be more “yourself”, but, rather, to create an exaggerated version of a truth that you live.
Therefore, my invitation for this week is: look to the side.
Your office, your gym, the group of mothers at school, the football boys or the gourmet coffee queue. There is definitely a character out there screaming to be born.
And, when he’s born, you can let him know that Vini Startupeiro loves collabs.
