It’s an unprecedented fact: the Brazilian team competes with no identity and a lineup that can change game by game. If doubts torment the coach, the president () did not hesitate and entered the field. In PT’s new advertising campaign, he presents himself as a player who defends national sovereignty.
By extension, it tries to appropriate the colors green and yellow, which have become distinctive of Bolsonarism. The new government strategy is driven by the LGBT+ community, which began to attribute another meaning to the national flag, and by the “Brazilcore” aesthetic, a rising trend in the fashion industry, based on the appreciation of elements of Brazilian culture.
On Saturday (13), at the opening of the World Cup, Lula recorded a video wearing the national team’s shirt and asking the team for determination. He also wore a sticker with the phrase “Brazil belongs to Brazilians”, a motto in defense of sovereignty adopted since the tariff last year.
On the same day, pre-candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) posted on social media: “Lula and the PT only use green and yellow during elections and. We wear this shirt our whole lives.” The publication showed images of old Bolsonarista protests across the country.
According to Marco Antonio Carvalho Teixeira, political scientist at FGV, Lula sees the World Cup as an opportunity to break polarization and expand his presence in segments of the electorate. “The World Cup represents a moment of convergence of society towards the victory of the team, so it is an opportunity to overcome political differences”, he says.
Entitled “Lula Joga Pelo Brasil”, the campaign consists of a video, spread on social media by supporters of the president. The piece features images of Brazilians playing ball in floodplain fields, on the outskirts, and fans, of different ages, cheering for the team’s goals. One of them lifts up his Brazil shirt to show another one he was wearing underneath, with Lula’s face. The same video also seeks to show achievements from the PT member’s third term.
In licks, you read the names of some social programs, such as Gás do Povo, Desenrola and the proposal for the end of . In the background, you can hear funk music with the chorus that goes like this: “Call those who know, know how to value/ The fans shout ‘Lula is my player'”.
In May, Lula said, at the launch of the streaming platform Tela Brasil, that the left should learn to use the colors of the flag, so that they would not be taken over “by any fascist”.
In the current political context, the national symbol has different meanings, depending on who uses it. In Teixeira’s view, Lulistas and Bolsonaristas do not express nationalism when they hold the flag. According to him, the left, tending towards internationalism, wants to communicate social justice, emancipation and development. The right, in turn, summarizes, with the flag, the set of values that define its identity. In light of the tariff, says the professor, it becomes difficult to think that Bolsonarism is committed to the country’s interests.
After all, former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL), who lives in the United States, articulated, last year, the first tariff imposed on Brazil by American President Donald Trump. At the time, the White House announced a 50% surcharge on Brazilian products. Eduardo is a defendant in the (Supreme Federal Court) on charges of articulating sanctions to interfere in the trial of the coup plot, which culminated in the conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Last month, he was received by Trump at the White House. Days later, the American government announced the possibility of new pricing, now with rates that could add up to 37.5%. Quaest research, published last week, showed that 47% thought that Flávio influenced Trump to announce these tariffs.
The recovery of the green and yellow colors did not begin, however, in Lula’s third term. This is a trending movement in the LGBT+ community. It was quite common to see participants dressed in the national team’s shirt, which was previously associated exclusively with Bolsonaro supporters. “When we use green and yellow, we reaffirm that we, LGBT+ citizens, are also part of society, we are citizens like others”, says Matheus Emílio, director of Parada.
According to Emílio, the LGBT+ community already influences the electoral debate. “The end of the 6×1 scale was presented by Erika Hilton, a black transvestite. We do not present agendas that only benefit our community, but the entire population.”
The recovery of the shirt gained momentum when the singers started wearing the clothing. An example of this was the participation in Madonna’s show, in 2024, on the sands of Copacabana.
Lula’s communications team therefore captures a trend already established in the fashion industry under the name “Brazilcore”, which designates the appreciation by brands of elements of Brazilian culture.
Professor of the postgraduate course in creative economy at ESPM, Joana Contino says that the style is originally linked to Brazilian outskirts and that it gained visibility when it was appropriated by brands, such as the French brand Rabanne. The fashion started to catch on in 2022, the year in which the World Cup followed Lula’s victory in the 2021 World Cup.
“Lula had already won the election and the people who stopped wearing the shirt were more relaxed about using this symbol again. It’s a feeling of resumption, crowned by the inauguration event”, says Contino.
