MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
And I'm Scott Detrow. In Brazil, political fault lines sometimes appear in the oddest places. Supporters of the country's former far-right president, currently serving a prison sentence, have taken offense to a New Year's ad for flip-flops. They say it is leftist propaganda and have called for a boycott of the iconic Brazilian sandals. From Rio de Janeiro, NPR's Carrie Kahn explains.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: The Havaianas ad that's upset the right features Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres sitting in front of a wall covered with pairs of the brightly colored footwear.
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
FERNANDA TORRES: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "Excuse me, but I don't want you to start 2026 on the right foot," says the Golden Globe-winning actress, playing off a popular Brazilian expression wishing one good luck. "I want you to start off with both feet in the game," she says...
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
TORRES: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: ..."With both feet taking you wherever you want." Because as she ends with the company's tagline, Havaianas - everyone wears them, everyone loves them. Apparently now, not everyone.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
EDUARDO BOLSONARO: This was not by chance. Excuse me.
(SOUNDBITE OF TRASH CAN LID CLOSING)
BOLSONARO: So the right foot and the left one are in the trash. Anyway...
KAHN: That's a social media video by Eduardo Bolsonaro - former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's son - tossing a pair of the rubber sandals into the trash. The young Bolsonaro now lives in the U.S. and has been leading lobbying efforts to get President Trump's help in freeing his dad, who has begun serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup to stay in power.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: In another pro-conservative video posted on X by a user named Leila R. Silva, the narrator calls the boycott a patriotic act against cultural indoctrination by Brazil's elites.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "The final message," it continues, "those who are woke go broke. Leave their flip-flops on the shelf."
Reps for Fernanda Torres and Havaianas didn't respond to requests for comment. The company's stock took a quick dip in value right after the boycott calls but rebounded quickly.
(CROSSTALK)
KAHN: And for many post-Christmas shoppers at this crowded Rio mall, the boycott is a flip-flop.
ELIANA LEVE: I don't think she was referring to the right wing or anything political. I think she was doing just a joke.
KAHN: Says Eliana Leve, a local lawyer and owner of three pairs of Havaianas.
LEVE: She was comparing thing. (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "Just making a pun," says Leve.
Civil engineer Vitor Gaspar walked out of the packed Havaianas store with a huge bag.
VITOR GASPAR: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: He had some Christmas exchanges and a few new purchases for nieces and nephews. Obviously, he says, he's not boycotting.
GASPAR: (Speaking Portuguese).
KAHN: "I like buying them," he says and laughs at those defining politics by sandal preferences. Although he says his conservative father-in-law made it clear he did not want any Havaianas for Christmas. Fellow shopper Marcelo Freitas also dismissed the sandal scandal.
MARCELO FREITAS: People nowadays, they're taking everything too seriously. And life is not like that.
KAHN: "You got to take it easier," he says, "especially here in Rio." Carrie Kahn, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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