Understand what the barbecue at Bradesco reveals about ESG advertising

A video suggesting a reduction in meat consumption was supposed to help Bradesco publicize its app that calculates carbon footprints, but it ended up with a request for retraction and at least five barbecues organized by ranchers in front of the bank’s branches.

For experts, the case helps to understand some mistakes made by companies that seek to position themselves as sustainable, and sheds light on the relationship between advertising and ESG (acronym for good environmental, social and governance practices).

The episode began about two weeks ago, with a video that circulated on social media. In it, three influencers give tips on how to have more sustainable habits and recommend joining the movement known as “Monday without Meat”.

“Cattle raising contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases, so how about if we reduce our meat consumption and choose a vegetarian dish on Monday?”, says one of the influencers. At the end of the video, they disclose the Bradesco application.

The publicity material irritated some ruralist representatives, which led the bank to withdraw the video from the air and write an open letter retracting it.

“We saw a misplaced position of digital influencers in relation to the consumption of beef, associated with our brand. It is important to say that such a position does not represent the vision of this house in relation to the consumption of beef”, says the letter.

For Fábio Alperowitch, founder of Fama Investimentos, a fund manager focused on ESG, the episode says a lot about the current corporate scenario in Brazil.

“Companies, in general, defend this agenda [sustentável] until such time as they do not harm your business. So it becomes a weakened agenda”, he says.

In his view, when the bank launches a piece encouraging a meatless day and then goes public saying it is against it, it ends up stimulating the perception that sustainability is still more in marketing than in practice.

“What ended up talking louder is the market side. Bradesco’s retreat is very emblematic”, he says.

Sought for comment, Bradesco said it would not comment on the matter.

In a note published on the 31st, the institution claimed to be the largest private bank in agribusiness, a sector that is considered one of the most important in the Brazilian economy.

According to a study by the CNA (Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil), in partnership with Cepea (Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics), the Gross Domestic Product of agriculture represented 26.6% of Brazilian GDP in 2020.

The institutions project that the gross value of agricultural production will reach R$ 1.25 trillion in 2022.

For Vanessa Pinsky, a researcher at USP and an ESG specialist, the case points to a disconnect between Bradesco’s marketing campaign and market strategy.

“Agribusiness is one of the bank’s main sectors in terms of profitability, potential and volume,” he says. “A message that has a positive content of conscious consumption, but confronts this sector, is not a good strategy”, he adds.

In her view, one of the main lessons of the episode is the importance of consistency between a company’s business and communication on sustainability.

“There needs to be a close dialogue between business, ESG and marketing strategies. If these three pillars don’t talk synergistically, an organization can have reputational problems”, he says.

Agro claims to be sustainable, but emissions are high

The cattle ranchers’ criticism of the influencers’ video said, among other things, that the message defames agribusiness.

After the material was released, Imac (Instituto Mato-Grossense da Carne) released a note saying that Brazilian livestock is carried out naturally, using pasture as the main input, which sequesters gases from the atmosphere and contributes positively to the balance of activity carbon.

According to SEEG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removal Estimates System), an arm of the Climate Observatory, agriculture is the second activity that emits most greenhouse gases in Brazil, accounting for 27% of the total.

Livestock accounts for the majority (65%) of the sector’s emissions due to enteric fermentation — the popular “bull burp”.

“As we have 220 million head of cattle, it is inevitable that this herd emits so much, because it is part of the animal’s natural digestion process”, explains Marina Piatto, executive director of Imaflora (Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification Institute) .

According to her, there are ways to reduce the sector’s carbon footprint without having to raise the issue of consumption reduction — such as the use of pickets to delimit the cattle area, pasture management, animal supplementation and the use of integrated systems with farming and forest.

However, not all producers are able to absorb these technologies, which means that emissions exceed removals.

“Brazil is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world because of our herd”, he says. “The producer, instead of defending himself, should assume that the problem exists and ask for help to transform the production system”, he adds.

ESG advertising needs to be authentic and purposeful

The authorship of Bradesco’s advertising material has not yet been clarified. Responsible for the campaign of the application that calculates carbon footprints, Leo Burnett neither confirms nor denies the creation of the video with the influencers. In the open letter, the bank also sought to disassociate itself from the content.

For Fabio Alperowitch, from Fama, the retreat worsens the company’s situation, which ends up displeasing both sides.

“It was a 180º turn, there was no re-clarification campaign or [que tentasse] bring the agro closer without abandoning what had been defended”, he says.

He remembers that it’s not the first time something like this has happened. In March 2021, Heineken Brasil published a publication about World Meat Free Day, celebrated on March 20, which also angered representatives of the agro.

At the time, the brewery said that the post did not devalue any sector of the economy and defended consumers’ right to choose.

Ricardo Loures, executive director of advertising agency Pátria, says companies are looking to position themselves in the face of the ESG wave.

In his opinion, there is a false impression that advertising pieces aimed at social networks do not need to go through a chain of approval as rigid as in traditional media. This could explain what happened in the case of Bradesco.

The director does not see the episode as an indication of a disconnect between communication strategy and sustainability. “It’s an error in implementing an absolutely secondary piece. If you take this piece off the air, everything Bradesco did didn’t bother anyone”, he says.

For him, it is important that the advertising actions are purposeful. “It’s not arriving saying that the blame [dos problemas climáticos] belongs to agribusiness, but to propose a way for Bradesco to help.”

Miriam Moura, director of curation and content at Oficina Consultoria, says that the keyword in this ESG context is authenticity.

“You need to say what you do, say what you are. This is true for people and especially for companies”, he says.

According to her, everything that is not authentic will come to light – which can bring a very expensive cost. “We live in a society of hyperconnection. It is necessary that companies and brands have maturity in this relationship.”