Rio Mayor and Globo rep criticize Virgin Atlantic for launching commercial flights to Brazil

British carrier Virgin Atlantic announced this week that it will be flying to Brazil from May next year. The connections between London and São Paulo (Guarulhos) will run on a daily basis and were already part of the company’s plans before the pandemic.

However, the company’s announcement didn’t seem to go down well with everyone. The cause of controversy was the film chosen by the company to advertise the new route, indicative of the carnival and starring Juliana Paes, from Rio de Janeiro. The Globo actress was criticized on social media for making a video that was “stereotypical” of Brazil, even incorporating elements of Mexican culture.

In this context, the mayor of the city sneered.“Get it? They fly to São Paulo but sell Rio. With all due respect, Virgin Atlantic should have been sued for false propaganda! But I still have a ‘sweet faith’ that Minister Marcio França will allow soldiers to get straight where they want to go. So, of course, stop by dear and amazing São Paulo by taking a flight from Santos Dumont to Congonhas!”Eduardo Paes said.

In turn, actress Juliana Paes criticized the film timing from the producer. According to her, the instructions Expected to produce a commercial carnival piece for “playing with stereotypes”but it did not live up to the same “universal” expectations.

“Look… at the briefing there was a great idea for a carnival! This ad was planned before the pandemic and was thought of as a comedy. But time has passed, the editing hasn’t helped… Well, what can you do! All you can do is laughthe actress said in a tweet.

After this controversy, the British airline will definitely hire a Brazilian to help with its next commercial.