Reclame Aqui: Corruption Detector
Reclame Aqui, a consumer protection giant, tasked Grey Brazil with expanding their mission from corporate accountability to political transparency. Ahead of the 2018 Brazilian elections, they needed to help voters navigate a sea of misinformation and identify candidates with criminal records. The goal was to empower citizens to make informed choices using the brand's reputation for exposing the truth.
Creative Idea
Used facial recognition to instantly unmask politicians' corruption records through a smartphone camera.
Reclame Aqui launched a mobile app using facial recognition technology to instantly reveal politicians' corruption records in real - time, turning every smartphone into a tool for civic transparency during a critical election cycle.
Unmasking the Purple Mark of Corruption
A Database of Judicial Bruises
The visual identity of the app centered on the color purple, a deliberate choice by Grey Brazil to symbolize a "bruise" or a mark of shame on the political system. This aesthetic was an evolution of their 2017 Chrome plugin, The Colour of Corruption. To make the data accessible, researchers spent months "translating" complex legal jargon from hundreds of Brazilian courts - including the STF and STJ - into simple terms like "money laundering" or "misuse of public funds" so every citizen could understand the charges.
Microsoft Tech and Selfie Sabotage
The production relied on Microsoft’s Cognitive Services facial recognition API, which maintained a 98% accuracy rate. The developers specifically optimized the tool to work with low - quality images and difficult angles. This allowed voters to "detect" politicians on TV screens, street billboards, and even during live "selfie" opportunities on the campaign trail. Comedian Maurício Meirelles famously stress - tested this in Brasília, approaching congressmen for photos that instantly revealed their criminal records on his screen.
Zero Media and Record Lows
Despite having zero media investment, the app reached over 120 million people and became the #1 most downloaded free app in Brazil within a week. The cultural impact was measurable at the ballot box; the 2018 election resulted in the lowest rate of corrupt politicians re-elected in the country's history. Even as candidates filed lawsuits to shutter the app, the Instituto Reclame Aqui successfully defended the project because it utilized exclusively publicly available data, setting a major precedent for digital transparency in Latin America.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A platform trusted for exposing bad companies and protecting consumer rights.
Category
Political advertising often hides candidates' pasts behind polished marketing and complex legal jargon.
Customer
Voters felt overwhelmed by fake news and lacked easy access to verified corruption data.
Culture
A climate of deep political distrust and the ubiquity of smartphone cameras in daily life.
Company
A platform trusted for exposing bad companies and protecting consumer rights.
Category
Political advertising often hides candidates' pasts behind polished marketing and complex legal jargon.
Strategy:
Empower citizens by converting complex public data into an intuitive, real - time digital transparency tool.
Customer
Voters felt overwhelmed by fake news and lacked easy access to verified corruption data.
Culture
A climate of deep political distrust and the ubiquity of smartphone cameras in daily life.
Strategy:
Empower citizens by converting complex public data into an intuitive, real - time digital transparency tool.
Strategy Technique
Build an Utility, Not an Ad
Instead of just talking about transparency, the brand built a functional tool that solved the voter's problem of identifying corrupt candidates, making the brand's purpose tangible and useful.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Unexpected Utility
It transformed the smartphone camera from a selfie tool into a powerful corruption - detecting device, providing immediate, actionable information that was previously buried in complex legal databases.
Explore Technique
