“Who sells more, or Bolsonaro?” It was to answer this insistent question that street vendor Osvaldo Pires Valentim – known as Osvaldo das Toalhas – decided to create a sign and hang it next to the clothesline where he displays his products at the point of sale located on the corner of Alameda Lorena and Avenida Nove de Julho, in Jardins, in São Paulo.
Nicknamed “Data-Toalha”, in reference to the research institute, the board is updated every time a new product is sold to the taste of the customer-voter to make up the daily count.
This Thursday (4), the best seller with six towels was the pre-candidate for President (). Tied for second place, with four towels each, are President Lula (PT) and the pre-candidate (Missão).
The towel race does not necessarily reflect official polls of voting intentions. According to a poll carried out in May, Lula leads with 40% of voting intentions in the first round, followed by Flávio with 31%. Renan Santos appears with just 3%.
The sale of Renan Santos’ towels may have been boosted this Thursday by the Mission pre-candidate’s own visit to the store, which was recorded in a video published on Osvaldo das Toalhas’ Instagram profile.
“Not for nothing, but my towel is cooler”, said Santos when signing the product with his face printed on it.
In the World Cup atmosphere, “Data-Toalha” is in fourth place, with three towels sold, not from politics, but from . Jr. earned his place on Osvaldo das Toalhas’ clothesline when he and his followers on social media voted him “the best player in the history of football”.
The Jardins seller considers himself a democratic entrepreneur. The idea of selling rivals’ towels arose during the 2022 presidential campaign.
“I saw people selling towels on the internet [Jair] Bolsonaro and Lula. Some sold only Lula, others only Bolsonaro. With an entrepreneurial mind, I said: I’m going to sell both. And the insistent question of ‘who sells the most’ made me come up with the idea for the scoreboard, which later came to be called ‘Data-Toalha'”, he told Sheet.
