In recent years, Vult has become a more visible part of Carnival thanks to its sponsorship of one of Brazil’s biggest, most classic samba schools.

In 2024, the brand wanted to take its push for diversity and representation even farther. So, we decided to go further.

And we found a relatively unknown samba school: Turma da Paz de Madureira, the world’s first and only all-female samba school.

That’s when we decided to swap out our sponsorship. We’d stop supporting a school that boosted the brand’s sales and visibility, and we’d start supporting a minor school – this time, we’d be giving them visibility. And to do that, we hacked the media channels that had been used exclusively by the big-league schools.

In the process, we changed not only the lives of the women of TPM, but also the audience and the press’s perspective on women’s role in Carnival.

For decades, the global media has sexualized Brazilian women at Carnival.

All they can see is women’s bodies and nudity.

That means that they’re ignoring all the women playing percussion, singing, sewing costumes, and doing all the hard work that goes into Carnival.

So, to change up the headlines and the way the media portrayed these women, we decided to swap our sponsorship.

After years of sponsoring one of the biggest and most classic samba schools in Brazil, which boosted the brand’s sales and visibility, we decided to start supporting a practically unknown school: Turma da Paz de Madureira. The world’s first and only all-female samba school.

We gave them the visibility they deserved in the papers and on TV. That involved hacking the official Carnival broadcast by imitating a vignette only used to introduce major schools. In the end, the headlines changed, showing women’s true role in Carnival.

To change the story that the media was telling about Brazilian women in Carnival, we had to introduce them to new stories.

So we introduced them to Turma da Paz de Madureira, the world’s first and only all-female samba school. And the latest samba school to be sponsored by Vult.

We got the word out in the media and used our social media to tell the stories of the members of TPM. Then we hacked a media format used exclusively by major samba schools and introduced TPM to the whole country on Brazil’s biggest TV network, during the official broadcast of the world’s largest Carnival.

That’s how we got the media and celebrities to hear our main message, which was the same as TPM’s theme song for this year’s Carnival: A woman’s place is wherever she wants.

First, we announced our historic sponsorship swap. That alone surprised the media and got major media outlets interested in Turma da Paz de Madureira.

Then, to get even more attention, we hacked an exclusive format.

For decades, Brazil’s biggest broadcast network has used distinctive vignettes to introduce the song that each samba school is competing with – samba schools all led by men.

So we created a commercial that perfectly imitated the official vignettes. And we aired it during the parade, on the same network. Bringing in 27.8MM media impacts.

Media interest soon became coverage: TPM was featured in over 120 news pieces by major vehicles in Brazil and abroad. They were even covered by three of Brazil’s biggest TV networks.

Thanks to Vult’s sponsorship, TPM’s story was published in over 120 news pieces. Plus, they were covered by three of Brazil’s biggest broadcast networks, for a total of 145MM media impacts.

All in all, the brand brought in 30MM in earned media. It also saw a 1507% increase in impressions over the previous year’s Carnival campaign, when we sponsored one of the world’s biggest samba schools.

And we were able to transform headlines like this one:

"Cheers, sexy steps ring in Rio Carnival" - New York Post

Into this one:

"The sexism, stereotypes and sniggering don’t deter the members of TPM." - The Guardian

We generated an estimated social reach of over +18MM with the help of influencers who embraced our cause.

Not only did it transform journalism and the brand,the campaign also transformed the lives of the members of TPM.On Instagram:

+1559% more accounts reached

+1212% impressions

+200% followers