Casais: Every Kind of Love

Read the campaign story

O Boticário’s 2015 Casais film promoted its Egeo fragrances for Brazil’s Dia dos Namorados through a sequence of people preparing to meet their partners. The reveal included both different-sex and same-sex couples exchanging gifts. Contemporary launch coverage credits AlmapBBDO and director Heitor Dhalia, and describes film, print advertisements and radio spots. Later reporting records that the advertising self-regulatory body Conar dismissed complaints against the campaign.

The editorial mechanism worked through an assumption created by the edit. Viewers saw individuals preparing separately and could form expectations about who would meet whom. The eventual pairings challenged a narrow default without abandoning the familiar occasion of romantic gift giving. The product remained inside the action as a gift, so the representation was connected to the commercial purpose rather than presented as a separate corporate announcement.

That ordinariness is significant. The characters did not need to debate their right to appear in a fragrance advertisement; they participated in the same recognisable rituals. In this reading, the film widened the imagined audience for a conventional retail occasion. The creative turn came from the viewer’s interpretation, not from making the couples themselves into an unusual spectacle or requiring a lengthy explanation of their relationships.

The subsequent complaints and Conar decision are part of the historical context, but they should not be confused with a complete assessment of audience response. A self-regulatory dismissal establishes the outcome of that process, not universal approval or a causal sales result. Likewise, online attention can include support, disagreement and repetition. Treating every view as persuasion would obscure the actual communication question: whether the brand’s intended invitation was understood and trusted.

The case illustrates the planning demands of inclusive representation. Casting and storytelling are only part of the work; teams also need a consistent explanation of the choice and a respectful approach to public criticism. The opened sources establish the campaign and dispute outcome, not wider social change. Its practical lesson is that everyday product stories can include a broader range of people while remaining clear about the occasion, the offer and the dignity of those represented.

Keep the occasion clear

Representation can sit naturally within a recognisable customer moment.

Let the story do the work

A reveal can challenge assumptions without turning people into a lecture.

Prepare a consistent response

Public-facing inclusion needs clear reasoning beyond the launch film.

A small test for another brief

Review who appears in an ordinary product-use story.

Measure comprehension and perceived authenticity.

Stop if the portrayal becomes tokenistic or participants object.

• Map the real range of customers relevant to the occasion.
• Develop a respectful storyboard with input from represented people.
• Test whether the product purpose and human story remain clear.