Sex, feminine hygiene and swearing are, sometimes, beyond the reach of Brazilian audiences. These five (mostly) funny Brazilian TV ads were censored on the basis that they were indecent. You are the judge.
The older of the series. Actress Marilia Pera praises a new feminine pad in a pretty modern, metalinguistic commercial, shot in 1974. In this spot, she is “caught” during the preparations of a conventional commercial. The censors didn’t allow the product’s close up.
Delicious dirty mouth comedian Costinha, whose facial mobility was comparable to Jim Carrey’s, tried to sell a Rio state lottery in 1992. Only one of the two spots was liberated.
Fashion designer/ TV host/ Congressman Clodovil, recently deceased, was, for decades, the country’s “official caricature gay”. In this commercial, he has a truck driver moment. It was censored in 2006 by the client, Suvinil Tintas.
A 2009 ad for a new model of Havaianas flip flops. Basically, the granddaughter tells her grandma she is old-fashioned because she thinks you shouldn’t go to a restaurant in plastic sandals. Enters the scene TV cute boy Cauã Reynold. The grandma tells the girl that she needs a man like that in her life. She answers back that marrying someone famous might be tough. “Marriage? Who’s talking marriage?”, says the grandam. “Just have sex”.
A few days later, the company removed the ad and produced a new one where the elder lady says that, because of the protests, it would be available only online. The company was really responding to the conservative audience – or these was mere publicity strategy? Mistery…
Last year, spotlight loving millionaire Paris Hilton flew to Rio to act in a Devassa beer commercial. It was vetoed by the National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (Conar), that considered it excessively hot. For the record: in Portuguese, Devassa means, among other things, a mega horny woman.
If you like this topic, you should also read: The best Brazilian ads and 10 classic Brazilian commercials.