CONTEXT & CHALLENGE
In December 2022, the world said goodbye to Pelé. Every possible tribute had already been paid. sportv needed to find a symbolic space still unclaimed for a tribute never seen before. And it was right there in the language itself.
INSIGHT
Brazilians have always called the best at anything "the Pelé" of that thing. Michael Jordan is the Pelé of basketball. Serena Williams, the Pelé of tennis. "Pelé" was already a synonym for "the best". It just wasn't in the dictionary yet.
CONCEPT
Turn "Pelé" into an official entry in the Michaelis Dictionary, the leading Portuguese-language dictionary in Brazil. A sportv tweet proposed the idea, a landing page with a petition rallied the country and the channel's journalists amplified the cause. Instead of persuading the publisher with media, we persuaded Brazilians to persuade the publisher.
ART DIRECTION
Pelé built from the words that always spoke about him: a portrait assembled from newspaper clippings and headlines that told the story of his career. If Pelé deserves to become a word, it's because the press had been writing his name for generations. A palette of press blue and gold, aged paper texture and layers of text bring the language into the world of the dictionary.
RESULTS
- 1 official entry in the Michaelis, made official on April 26, 2023
- 300,000+ signatures in 15 days
- 20 million+ households reached and coverage in 37 countries, including CNN, NYT, BBC, ESPN, L'Équipe and more
Pelé. adj. One who is out of the ordinary; that or who, by virtue of their quality, value or superiority, cannot be equaled by anything or anyone; exceptional, incomparable, unique.
AWARDS
- Lisbon International Advertising Festival 2023 — 2 Grand Prix, 5 Golds and 1 Silver (the festival's most-awarded campaign)
- Clio Sports 2023 — Bronze, Creative Effectiveness
- Cannes Lions 2023 — Shortlist
- New York Festivals 2023 — Shortlist
- Hashtag Sports Awards 2024 — Shortlist, Best Social Media Campaign
- Prêmio Confut 2023 — Best campaign
- FIAP — Recognition