Women featured in Lula’s 2002 campaign ad reassess their hopes and votes

In early October 2002, just weeks before Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidency for the first time, his campaign aired an advertisement that became an icon of the country’s political marketing.

Pregnant women dressed in white walked through a wheat field on a farm near Maringá, in northwestern Paraná. Strong sunlight and wind from giant fans shaped the scene, giving the commercial its distinctive visual style.

More than two decades later, the women who appeared in the advertisement are reassessing the hopes they associated with it and the votes they cast. The campaign remains a reference point in Brazil’s electoral advertising.