Felipe Neto’s campaign for Bis becomes a political dispute on social media

The rise of the hashtag “#BISnuncamais” on social media highlighted a market dispute that moved into the political field, after the hiring of influencer Felipe Neto to be the poster boy for the Bis chocolate brand.

Felipe Neto is a critic of the former government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and campaigned for President Lula (PT) in the 2022 elections.

The campaign carried out by supporters and allies of former president Bolsonaro asks followers to stop consuming products made by Lacta, which produces Bis and is controlled by the multinational Mondelez. Some social media users even suggest purchasing KitKat, manufactured by competitor Nestlé.

Bis is one of the sponsors of CCXP 2023, a convention focused on the geek world, which takes place in November and Felipe Neto’s first appearance was on a podcast sponsored by the brand. Afterwards, he himself published the result of the partnership on social media. Allies of President Lula, on the other hand, began to encourage the consumption of Bis.

To sweeten life… @randolfeap @felipeneto @BisOficial pic.twitter.com/uKzRHfoLz0

— Humberto Costa (@senadorhumberto) October 14, 2023

More reasons not to eat anything from Lacta.#BisNeverMore pic.twitter.com/BS9TmJbdbP

— Carla Zambelli (@Zambelli2210) October 14, 2023

Something in common between the company and the influencer is the Council for Sustainable Economic and Social Development, the Council of the Lula government. Felipe Neto and Liel Miranda, president of Mondelez Brasil, are part of the committee that, according to the Institutional Relations Secretariat, discusses public policies and proposes measures that stimulate economic growth, development and social equity.

Mondelez informed, in a statement, that the hiring of influencers is related solely to their relevance on the internet, without any link or political support, and says it respects the difference of opinions. A CNN contacted Nestlé, but received no response. A CNN seeks contact with Felipe Neto.

Understand the history of Lacta

Several company mergers are related to the history of Bis. Created by Lacta in 1942, Bis received its name because, even during product testing, everyone who tried the chocolate always wanted one more — in allusion to requests for new songs at concerts and presentations, called “bis”.

The Lacta brand was acquired in 1917, but the story begins five years earlier, in Vila Mariana, in São Paulo. A group led by the Swiss consul Achilles Izella created the Societè Anonyme de Chocolats Suisses, with the idea of ​​producing chocolates with the same quality as international ones here in the country.

During the First World War, the company Zanotta, Lorenzi & Cia., which imported a competing chocolate from France and made Guaraná Espumante, decided to buy the company to start producing the chocolate. The Lacta brand was acquired years later from the French Poulain.

With the imminence of the Second World War, the Crash of the New York Stock Exchange (in 1929), high costs and competition with Guaraná Champagne Antarctica, launched in 1921, caused the bankruptcy of Zanotta, Lorenzi & Cia. Then, Assis Chateaubriand , owner of Diários Associados, took control of the company.

Years later, Ademar de Barros, who was mayor of the city of São Paulo and governor of the State, was at the helm of the brand. After his death, his son, Ademar de Barros Filho, took control until 1996, when it was sold to the multinational Kraft Foods. In August 2012, Kraft announced the division of the business into two.

Mondelez took over the sweets and treats side, and, consequently, the Lacta operation in Brazil.

KitKat was unsuccessfully launched in Brazil in the 1990s

Despite having taken over the shelves of national markets in 2011, KitKat was launched by Nestlé for the first time in Brazil in 1994. Sales were interrupted and it was only possible to obtain the product through importers.

KitKat was created in 1935 by the Rowntrees company in England and has been produced by Nestlé since 1999, except in the United States, where the chocolate is produced by Hershey’s.

Nestlé is a company founded in 1867 by Henri Nestlé, when he launched Milk Flour, a special food for children, based on cereals and milk that would serve to replace breast milk. It is not known exactly when the idea arose, but it is known that, in the Nestlé family, 14 children died before reaching adulthood due to malnutrition, a common problem at that time.

In 1905, the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co. (founded in 1866 by two Americans living in Switzerland, who created convict milk) and Nestlé merged, giving rise to the Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company.

In Brazil, the company has been operating since 1876, when it sold imported Dairy Flour. In 1921, it installed the first factory, in Araras (interior of São Paulo), to produce Milkmaid condensed milk, which would later be called Leite Moça. Little by little, other products were introduced into the Brazilian market.

Read the full Mondelez note

“Mondelez Brasil, manufacturer of the BIS brand, reinforces that its hiring of influencers is solely related to its relevance in the gamer and entertainment universe, without any link or political support of any kind. As a leader in the snacks market in Brazil and around the world, Mondelez reaffirms its absolute respect for diversity of opinions.”