Brazil election merchandise a hit with shoppers

(27 Jul 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS:
Rio de Janeiro - 27 July 2022
1. Bath towels painted with the face of presidential candidates in Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro, hanging in a street market in Rio de Janeiro
2. Scoreboard showing the number of towels sold, reading (Portuguese) "Bolsonaro: 5, Lula: 43. Source: Data Toalha" (alluding to the country's most prominent pollster, Data Folha. (Toalha is the Portuguese word for towel)
3. Seller Jose Lucas da Silva, organizing the towels
4. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Jose Lucas da Silva, 28-year-old street seller:
"We are always updating the placard. When someone buys anything about the candidate, we score the placard. Today the placard is this, 5 (Bolsonaro) to 43 (Lula). And we will do it until Election Day, until when we can."
5. Bandeira changing the placard number ++UPSOUND++ (Portuguese) "Democracy is happening in front of the camera"
6. Various of street vendors selling merchandise of Da Silva's candidacy
7. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) David Henrique Sampaio, 61-year-old, retired police officer:
"I think I've already bought three caps to give as a gift. Some people want to help in the campaign but don't have the means. So, as I have means, I like to give it. I'm combining business with pleasure. I give a present and the person does the publicity for my party."
8. Various of street market with left wings products
9. Cleaning towel with Bolsonaro's face reading (Portuguese) Bolso - Nazi / Genocide
10. Male and female underwear painted with Lula's face
STORYLINE:
As keen supporters of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro claim polls signaling he will lose his reelection bid can't be trusted, an unlikely proxy has emerged: towel sales.
Cashing in on skepticism of pollsters ahead of October elections, some street vendors have begun using scoreboards to track sales of towels bearing the faces of far-right Bolsonaro and his rival, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the leftist Workers' Party.
The scoreboards have become a social media sensation in recent days.
The trend is dubbed DataToalha, a pun alluding to the country's most prominent pollster, DataFolha. Toalha is the Portuguese word for towel.
At one stand in Rio de Janeiro's city center on Wednesday, da Silva led 44 to 5. Vendor Jose Lucas da Silva, 28, said sales have soared and his scoreboard is drawing crowds and comments from passersby.
"It's a joke, a joke that's working out!" he said. "Whoever wants to participate just needs to buy!"
Were such sales a solid barometer for voter intent, they would indicate an even wider margin of victory for da Silva than Datafolha surveys.
Its most recent poll, in June, shows the former president with almost half the first-round vote intention, compared to 28% for Bolsonaro. Political analysts have said that gap will narrow as inflation slows and the government begins disbursing recently approved welfare payments.
Bolsonaro has cast doubt on polls' reliability. He mocked a DataFolha poll last year that indicated da Silva would get nearly 60% of the votes in a runoff against him.
His voters are reading from the same hymn book.
According to a May survey by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Novelo Data, groups backing Bolsonaro's reelection have spread misleading news on WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels, seeking to tarnish the reputation of polling institutions.
The researchers monitored more than 2,000 social media groups for several months.
Da Silva shared her video, and vendors began hanging chalkboards at their stands to tally sales.
AP Video shot by Mario Lobao

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