Luiza in Canada
This story is so hilariously Brazilian, it needs to be shared.
The story begins with a random TV commercial that ran in Brazil about a construction project for a luxury apartment building in Paraíba. In the commercial, the man advertising the building uses his family in the commercial, but makes a point of saying that everyone is there except his daughter Luiza…who is in Canada. Yes, this does seem random. Why did he mention Luiza being in Canada? Wasn’t that completely irrelavant to the commercial’s message? Was he showing off the fact that his daughter is studying abroad (something uncommon for Brazil, it basically means you have money)? It was as if we already knew all of his children by name… As if we would wonder why we wouldn’t see Luiza at the event. As if we all lived in the same small city and even knew who the heck Gerardo Rabello and his family were. As if we cared.
Whatever it may be, people who didn’t get this meme don’t understand the depths of Brazilian sarcasm when it combines with false cordiality. There’s a reason why “cair na boca do povo” is understood to be a bad thing in Brazil.
Brazilians are really big on memes, and this one turned into an instant sensation on the web. The phrase “menos Luiza, que está no Canadá” became viral. In only two days, dozens of “comments” and mockumentaries about it were published on Youtube. Not only that, but now whenever you hear something said in Brazil, the phrase often ends randomly in “…menos Luiza, que está no Canadá.”
Brazil, um país de todos (menos Luiza, que está no Canadá).
Here’s the commercial:
…and here’s the story about Luiza that appeared on the national news (Update: she’s not in Canada anymore, and has become somewhat a celebrity in Brazil).
About Laurena