SBT removes Chavo from show scenes to increase visibility of homeless children

A special episode of El Chavo broadcasted last Saturday caused much talk. Through its social responsibility platform SBT do Bem, SBT deleted the main character of the show on the Childhood Day (August 24) to raise the awareness about child abandonment. The context couldn’t be better, since Chavo is a boy living in a barrel who doesn’t know his parents or relatives and, in some episodes, even starves.

The action developed by WMcCann aimed to raise awareness by removing from the show one of the most beloved characters in the country. After watching all episodes of the show, the agency used the technique of rotoscopy to remove the boy from the episode scenes, which were edited to create a new story. In the special episode featuring original voice actors, the village characters notice Chavo is missing and start looking for him. This way, SBT ensured visibility to a social problem that is often invisible to the public eye.

“This is one of the oldest shows of SBT, it has just completed 35 years on the SBT grid and people love it. But unfortunately, it addresses a persistent social problem: child abandonment. And as SBT do Bem promotes actions for reflection and transformation of society, we wanted to use this opportunity to raise awareness about this problem through a character that shows the situation of many children in Brazil, although many times we don’t see Chavo as a homeless child, but he lives in a barrel, is always hungry (looking for ham sandwiches), and has no father or mother,” said Priscila Stoliar, SBT Marketing Manager, who also informed this theme will be further addressed by SBT journalism department.

Credits:

Agency: WMcCann

Client: SBT

Name of the campaign: Chaves sem Chaves

CCO: Hugo Rodrigues and André Marques

COO: Kevin Zung

Executive VP and Rio de Janeiro General Director: Marcio Borges

Creative Directors: Ricardo Weitsman, Nicolás Romanó and Viviane Pepe

Head of Art: Felipe Gomes

Creatives: Alexandre “Xela” Oliveira, Rafael Dyer, Pedro Chaves, Felipe Latgé and Ricardo Weitsman

Editor: Yuri Porto

Client Service: Anna Moraes and Vitoria Silvestre

Media VP: André França

Media: Horácio Rosário, Daniel Neves, Vitória Lobo, Lucas Gonçalves

Production VP: Tato Bono

Production: Cayan Lobo, Rosinha Pinheiro, Fabiana Diniz

Production House: Homem de Lata Filmes

Director: Ale Braga

Post-production: Bernardo Leite and equipe Mandrill

Sound Production: Satélite Áudio

Voice-over: RioSound   

Graphic Production: Maurício Martim, Nereu Marinho

Projects: Yarha Costa

Public Relations: Kerena Neves, Bruna Ramos and Patrícia Lázaro

Client approval: Priscila Stoliar, Daniela Martins and Becken Lima