Brazil is the country that murders transsexuals the most on the planet, with a murder every 48 hours. According to ANTRA (National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals), there were 168 deaths in 2018 (https://antrabrasil.org/mapadosassassinatos/). Still according to Antra, 90% of trans individuals in Brazil are sex workers because they can’t find opportunities in the traditional labor market.

Those numbers only tend to increase with the election of Jair Bolsonaro, an ultra-right, openly homophobic president.

While the news talk about the murders of so many transsexuals, a trans woman has conquered her space in the media. Anne Viriato, a MMA fighter and trans woman, can fight against women according to the statute; however, she decided to fight against men. On March 10th, 2018, she faced her first male opponent and won.

We released a 2-minute film, in which Anne tells the struggle against society she has been facing since childhood: at 12, she decided to call herself Anne. At 14, she started dressing like a girl. Then, she started to medically transition. While we watch Anne training, we listen to her telling her story and how she’s overcome everything.

To honor all transsexuals, especially Barbara and Nicole, fatal victims of transphobia, we showed the film at the places where the crimes happened.

In addition to the film, Forcefield launched 80 mouthguards with the trans colors and the name ANNE. These mouthguards were sent to trans people who relate to Anne's fight story.

In a polarized scenario, we decided to take a stand and support a trans woman fighter. Our main audience is composed of bigoted people. Our intention was to show that we are on the right side: that we are in favor of diversity in and outside the ring. We chose to tell this story in a tone that every fighter can relate to: by just telling that Anne has struggled her whole life to become a fighter, as they have as well.

First, we shot the commercial with Anne. We invited the country’s main sports channel to observe the shoot. The commercial was aired during the week and, the in the following weekend, a sports channel aired a behind-the-scenes segment about the commercial.

In addition to the spot, Forcefield sent mouthguards with trans colors to trans influencers and to famous fighters, asking them to make a post on their social networks.

We also showed the commercial in the actual places where trans people have been killed, turning this into news as well.

The website traffic increased by 172% compared to the previous month, while sales rose by 22% in the first week.

The interaction with the brand’s channels was a very positive point for the campaign. We received a lot of support and affection. However, we also got a lot of hate, which only makes even clearer how important it is for a brand that exists in the world of fighting to position itself regarding good causes. In our case: gender identity.

We had over 100 million impacts in the first week of the campaign alone.