Cisco Costa: Writing in the Folha de São Paulo, one of Brazil’s largest newspapers and arguably its most respected and influential one, Clarice Spitz reports that marketing was key for the “no” victory:

Political marketing was key for the “no” victory, according to both defenders and opponents of the sale of guns and ammunition. With a clearer strategy, the “no” voted had the guidance of adman Chico Santa Rita, ex-marketing consultant of [former president] Fernando Collor, who used and abused of images associated to freedom and superstars of the struggle for individual rights such as Nelson Mandela.

The “no” campaign had a clear message: the prohibition of the gun trade took the right of acquiring a gun away from Brazilians while the State does not guarantee his safety.

Rubem Cesar Fernandes, member of the Viva Rio NGO and one of the coordinators of the “yes” front, asserts in mea culpa that political marketing, linked to social movements, did not have the same ability and command centralization needed to win. “We did not have their experience in advertising campaign, and they also had more money”, he said.

The campaign against the gun trade initially depended on volunteer work from production companies such as Conspiração, Videofilmes and O2, and was handed to marketing specialist Luiz Gonzales near the end. “It was like switching horses in midstream”, he said.

“The ‘no’ vote managed to build on a certain unsatisfaction with the very obligatory nature of the referendum, a protest against government and public security”.

Shaky and more simple-minded, the “yes” campaign even had celebrities such as [singer, songwriter and novelist] Chico Buarque, [actress] Camila Pitanga and [actress] Maria Paula in its campaign. Towards the end, with loftier tone, it tried to demonize guns and the industry’s interests.

On the counter-attack, Santa Rita appealed to images such as Nelson Mandela struggling against the South African apartheid and the Justice Minister, Marcio Thomaz Bastos. Neither Mandela nor Thomaz Bastos appreciated it. But it was too late, images once again overcame words.