By Ahmed Abdelsalam
Political memes exploded in Brazil after Sunday's election in which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated his opponent Flávio Bolsonaro, who responded to his loss by fleeing to the United States.
Social media fuels meme surge
Social media played an outsized role in Lula's victory, with unprecedented mobilization of the left on digital networks proving critical. Bolsonaro, who is under investigation for money laundering and corruption, stated on Monday that he had no intention of leaving Brazil but departed the country shortly thereafter.
The extraordinary sequence of events kicked Brazil's famed meme-making machine into overdrive, turbo-charged by artificial intelligence. Posts garnered hundreds of thousands of likes and shares across multiple platforms. "Brazilians treat serious questions with lightness, irony and humor," said Carolina Terra, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo's communications and arts school. "Everything that is extremely relevant and important, whether political or not, tends to turn into memes that become viral."
Waldo, costumes and a fake airline
Internet users asked "Where is Flávio?" depicting the former president's eldest son as Waldo from the children's puzzle books. One meme titled "Which costume would you use to flee?" presented Bolsonaro in outfits resembling a Rastafarian, Mario, former soccer player Ronaldo and John Lennon. Another showed "Flyvio Bolsonaro" as captain of "Fly 22 Airlines" — a reference to the number of Brazilians who voted for him on electronic voting machines.
Letter from Miami and mock inauguration
The 45-year-old Trump ally landed in Miami on Wednesday and posted a letter declaring himself the "true president-elect of Brazil," a term he later softened to "leader," and claimed the vote was fraudulent without offering evidence. He compared himself to Charles de Gaulle, who led the French resistance from London during World War II. The letter, posted on X, used a coat of arms referring to Brazil as "United States of Brazil" instead of the "Federative Republic of Brazil" and misspelled the country's name with a "z" rather than the Portuguese "Brasil." Some Brazilians received a mock inauguration invitation signed by cartoon character Goofy with Disneyland in the background.
Slogan parodies and movie-inspired memes
Other users parodied the slogan "God, homeland and family" into "Goodbye, homeland and family." Memes drew from famous films: an AI-modified "Catch Me If You Can" poster replaced Leonardo DiCaprio with Bolsonaro and Tom Hanks with Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered the cancellation of Bolsonaro's passports. A "Home Alone" parody pictured Flávio and his brother Eduardo as background thieves with a shocked Jair Bolsonaro in a red jumper. A "Dark Horse" sequel poster showed Bolsonaro on a horse bearing a presidential sash galloping toward an airport, captioned "The fugitive is different" — referencing the elder Bolsonaro's similar departure to Florida after losing the 2022 election and his subsequent 27-year sentence for attempting a coup.
Investigations and cathartic release
Flávio Bolsonaro is under investigation for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion for allegedly receiving millions of dollars from a disgraced banker to finance the movie. Fewer memes circulated during the campaign due to a lack of debates before the first round, said Viktor Chagas, a professor at Fluminense Federal University. The runoff debates generated more memes, but the three-week period was principally characterized by high political tension. "The memes regarding Bolsonaro's departure to the U.S. have a cathartic element" for Lula's supporters, Chagas said. "The idea is: Now that we're back on track, so to speak, we can laugh together."
