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Social Merchandising
Researchers have delineated telenovelas' influence in many levels
of society. In research of media framing and citizen competence,
Porto (2001), set up to study the daily newscast "Jornal Nacional".
His study focuses on television audience's interpretations of politics
in Brazil. At first, he explains, it is not his intent to include
telenovelas in the research, even though he knows of the importance
of this genre in understanding Brazilian cultural politics. However,
the participants in the study keep bringing the telenovela "Terra
Nostra" into the discussion even when not asked about it, or
when the topic is not relevant to the novela. Porto (2001) is forced
to include the telenovela in his study, as he points out: "I
realized that the genre was unavoidable". Part of the explanation
for the strong audience appeal rests on the ability of the telenovelas'
themes to cross socio-economic, genre, and age barriers. Telenovelas
are part of the daily conversation among all sorts of individuals
in Brazil, as Page (1995) points out:
The addictive appeal of the telenovelas has become a kind of
glue that binds the disparate elements of Brazilian society. Residents
of shacks in frontier towns in Amazonia and high-rise apartments
in São Paulo, wealthy matrons and humble maids, children
and their grandparents, attorneys and janitors (and even many intellectuals
who insist that they despise television) all share a common fascination
with the characters and the plot convolutions of hit novelas .
Hamburger (2000) analyzes the impact of the interaction of viewers
of the telenovela “O Rei do Gado” (The Cattle King)
on the redefinition of politics and intimacy in Brazil. One of the
main themes this novela address is agrarian reform, but it also
deals with infidelity, and violence against woman. Among other debates,
"The Cattle King" generates discussions about marriage,
and perceived ideas of womanhood and manhood. Hamburger (2000) describes
viewer's interactions as follow:
Viewers take telenovela plots and characters as references to
that which they share with their fellow viewers. The yellow, blue,
and green national colors mobilized in previous telenovelas define
Brazil as the place where these narratives happen. References to
the agrarian conflict identify Brazil as the territorial base of
this genre's narratives. These references signal the geographic
boundaries of an imagined collective that does not define itself
by one dominant content or by a homogenous body. This imagined national
collective exists as a heterogeneous community that debates certain
issues brought up by telenovelas. Because they have a well-known,
cross-class, cross-gender, cross-age, and cross-regional audience
of viewers, and because of their references to national symbols
and repertoires, viewers understand telenovelas as displays of models
of behavior. This does not mean that they agree or assume these
models. Rather, it means that they position themselves in relation
to them. In doing so, they take topics that telenovelas address
as legitimate topics for public discussion… But beyond simply
inspiring opinions about polemic issues, telenovelas provide a repertoire
through which viewers engage their personal experiences in public
terms, that is, in terms that are recognized as legitimate by fellow
viewers.
Like "The Cattle King", other telenovelas have incorporated
social messages into their plots. This model is borrowed from the
same concept of product placement, or merchandising. In Brazil,
the insertion of socially relevant subjects in the telenovela storyline
is therefore, appropriately called "social merchandising".
There are many examples of social merchandising in the Brazilian
telenovelas, where the author incorporates socially relevant themes
into the telenovela context. Perhaps the first Brazilian writer
to intentionally use the televised serial drama as an educational
medium was Benedito Rui Barbosa with the telenovela "Meu Pedacinho
de Chão" (My Small Piece of Land). According to Fernandes
(1994), this is the first educational novela in Brazilian television.
It aired August of 1971 to May of 1972, co-produced by TV Cultura
and TV Globo, for this novela the writer focuses on rural themes,
the struggles of farm workers, and he also includes agricultural
information. Other novelas that venture into social and political
issues followed. "Explode Coração" (Explosion
of the Heart), by Glória Perez, aires by Globo in 1996, and
brings up the discussion of missing children and child labor. Mixing
fiction and reality, Glória Perez takes one of the characters
into a scene where real mothers protest for their missing children
in Rio’s downtown area. The scene alludes to the well-publicized
massacre of street children by the police on July 23, 1993, at Rio’s
Candelária Square. There are claims that this actually helps
reunite some families and it encourages non-governmental organizations
to continue the campaign (Fernandes, 1994; Hamburger 2000). Another
topic introduced in this novela is the traditions and beliefs of
the gypsy culture, through a gypsy woman’s love affair with
a non-gypsy man. This old melodramatic formula of impossible love
helps Glória Perez display the music, dance and secular traditions
of gypsy culture. Later, she uses the same recipe to spice up the
telenovela "O Clone. " Silvio de Abreu explores homosexuality
in the telenovela "A Próxima Vítima” (The
Next Victim). This telenovela aires in 1995 by TV Globo, dealing
with polemic themes, such as racial prejudice, which is seen on
the screen by a middle class African-Brazilian family.
Social merchandizing can also be displayed in the telenovelas without
incorporating the message in the main storyline. That is the case
with a plug to the public health campaign about Hanseniase in the
telenovela “O Clone", 2001-2002. In this case, a popular
Brazilian singer visited Dona Jura’s bar, showed her a poster
and talked about the campaign. The telenovela "Pátria
Minha" (My Homeland), written by Gilberto Braga and broadcasted
from July 1994 to March 1995, exemplifies the use of both tactics
of social merchandising, including or not including the topic in
the storyline. This novela is shown in the year of the soccer World
Cup in the United States and Brazilian presidential elections. It
does have an optimistic view, and according to Fernandes (1994),
Braga wants to affirm that it is worthwhile to live honestly in
Brazil. The themes built in the telenovela plot are about the Brazilians
that live and work in the United States, affectionately called “Brazucas",
(no translation) along with housing, racism, and female adultery.
It also portrays coming of age scenarios such as the first sexual
experience, condom use, and communication between parents and their
children. A more recent (2003) Globo production "Mulheres Apaixonadas"
(Passionate Women) takes on various pro-social themes, such as domestic
violence, female alcoholism, and violence in the streets. Manuel
Carlos, the author, writes a very poignant scene where one of the
characters is killed by a stray bullet. The characters are caught
in a shootout between the police and robbers in the streets of Rio.
It sparked popular clamor against violence, even an organized march
in the streets of Copacabana. "Mulheres Apaixonadas" also
touches on the subjects of organ donation, breast cancer, prostitution,
and elderly abuse. Coincidently, in October of 2003, Congress approves
the "Estatuto do Idoso", a compilation of laws for the
protection of senior citizens (Estatuto do Idoso, 2003). Sergio
Cabral (2003) a Brazilian senator praises the telenovela for tackling
these themes and helping raise awareness about the problems, pressuring
the legislature to expedite the approval of the measures that were
idle in the Senate for five years (Cabral, 2003).
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