Heeding to the request of president Jair Bolsonaro, Rubem Novaes, the President of Banco do Brasil, took down a youth-orientated commercial that featured racial and sexual diversity. He also fired the bank's head of marketing.
The commercial debuted at the beginning of April, but it was suspended on April 14 after the president saw it. Participants in the advertisement included young, black, tattooed and transsexual actors.
Bolsonaro called Novaes, asking that he not only suspend the campaign but also fire the director of marketing of Banco do Brasil, Delano Valentim.
The bank confirmed the president’s call to Novaes and reported that the bank executive heeded the Bolsonaro's request.
Officially, Novaes said that it was a “consensual decision.” Meanwhile, people who were present in the discussions affirmed that the president of the bank had not seen the campaign until Bolsonaro’s call.
Valentim went on vacation right after the video was taken off the air.
Since Novaes becoming President of Banco do Brasil, Novaes had directed his marketing teams to develop a plan to attract young people with more modern language and internet services in order to compete with fintechs, a concrete threat to the largest banks today.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon