🤦🏽‍♂️ Brazil’s canary in the coal mine

In Brazil, criticism of the national football team on the pitch is easy to come by. Listless friendlies and absent performances from star players Vini Jr and others — standouts when playing for their club teams — have led to widespread pessimism about the country’s chances at the upcoming World Cup. Even the credit built up by well-liked Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti has only gone so far.

But in recent weeks, that criticism has spilled over into off-the-pitch matters, particularly regarding brand marketing. Last week, as something of a cherry on top of a spell of bad press for Brazil, an AI-generated promo post shared by Nike and the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) had to be swiftly deleted after it depicted a canary (the national team mascot) with three legs.

Comments on social media were predictably scathing: “Imagine the costumes we’d have had if this was released during Carnival,” joked one. “Does the CBF not have any money to pay a designer?” asked another. 

Had it occurred in isolation, the case of Brazil’s tripedal tanager might have passed by largely unnoticed, but it came off the back of a particularly controversial pair of shirt launches ahead of the World Cup in June…

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