WhatsApp: The Privacy Gesture
Football’s hand-over-mouth gesture becomes a live demonstration of message privacy.
Footballers cover their mouths to keep on-field conversations private. WhatsApp made that familiar gesture the basis of a campaign in Brazil. During televised matches, the gesture triggered a broadcast message connecting it with the privacy of WhatsApp conversations.
WhatsApp, AlmapBBDO, and Globo developed the activation. Supporting films and social content extended the idea beyond the match. Contemporary coverage documents an activation during Palmeiras versus Flamengo on September 12, 2021.
Campaign case film
Beyond the broadcast
Football personalities changed their social profile photos to show the same hand-over-mouth gesture. A supporting film brought it into the advertising breaks, repeating the connection between an everyday action and private messaging.
Campaign recognition
- Global Best of the Best Effie Awards 2024: Global Grand Effie in Consumer Goods & Telecom, credited to Meta and AlmapBBDO.
- D&AD 2022: Wood Pencil in Media.
Coverage and further reading
- The Drum — how the live broadcast, supporting film, and social participation worked together.
- ABC da Comunicação — the September 2021 activation and the WhatsApp, Globo, and AlmapBBDO collaboration.
Sources and credits
D&AD’s entry includes the campaign credits and case film.