Bolsonaro supporters ‘cancel’ Havaianas flip-flop brand over television ad | Brazil
Left leaderless since its puppet was jailed for an attempted coup, Brazil’s far right has found a new enemy: Havaianas, the flip-flop brand that was “cancelled” by Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters over a television commercial.
The controversy stems from actor Fernanda Torres, star of the Brazilian film I’m Still Here, which won the Oscar for best international feature, saying in the ad that she hopes viewers start 2026 with “both feet” rather than “the right foot.”
Bolsonaro supporters interpreted this statement as a blow to the right and called for a boycott, echoing the actions of Donald Trump’s supporters against Bud Light, Keurig machines, Kellogg’s breakfast cereals and even Beyoncé.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, one of the former president’s sons, whose mandate was recently revoked after he left his post as a congressman and moved to the United States to lobby Trump to retaliate against Brazil for his father’s case, noted: video here a couple throws Havaiana into the trash can.
“I thought it was a national symbol,” he said, pointing to the small Brazilian flag that is the sandals’ trademark. “But I was wrong. They chose someone clearly left-wing as Sandals’ spokesperson.”
Neither Torres nor the brand has commented publicly on this controversy.
“This is what I would say to marketers: [at Havaianas] Referring to the backlash Bud Light faced after releasing an ad featuring transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney, for which he was later “pardoned” by Trump, the former congressman said he sought advice from the Budweiser marketing department here in the US, which resulted in him losing touch with reality and suffering a billion-dollar loss.
The first day of the flip-flop boycott is said to be Monday erased around £20 million fell from the company’s market value.
On the left, reactions varied as follows: serious objections Bolsonaro urges supporters to donate their sandals regimentincluding proposals to replace flip-flops with an electronic ankle tag in Brazil’s national colours.
The device has become a running joke since Bolsonaro was caught trying to destroy his own wrist tag with a soldering iron and was transferred from house arrest to a cell, where he began serving his sentence after being found guilty of masterminding a plot to overturn the outcome of the 2022 election.
