As well as losing out on their own 2014 World Cup (after a staggering 7-1 defeat to Germany on Tuesday evening) it would appear Brazil have lost something else to a European country. In this case we're referring to the iconic 'Christ the Redeemer' statue, which overlooks Rio de Janeiro from Corcovado Hill. The statue appeared suddenly at the Piazza Dante in Naples, Italy yesterday, apparently 'downloaded' via Fastweb, the Italian Telecommunications company, and the country's fastest broadband provider. Of course it's not the statue itself, but a replica designed by M&C Saatchi Milan in collaboration with Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, which stood 20 metres tall from morning to evening in the centre of Naples, turning the Piazza Dante into Rio de Janeiro for a day.
The statue appeared suddenly at the Piazza Dante in Naples, Italy yesterday, apparently 'downloaded' via Fastweb, the Italian Telecommunications company
The idea behind the replica is to demonstrate the speed of Fastweb, as the statue was erected (or “Downloaded”) the morning after Brazil's defeat. Fastweb and M&C Saatchi also chose the statue, as its image has been one of the most downloaded of the year in Italy, a nation of football fans who have been gripped by World Cup fever. The statue was accompanied by a sign featuring the company logo and the tagline; “Downloaded with #Fastweb” and suggests that the statue was so embarrassed by its country's performance on Tuesday night that it just had to get out of the company as quickly as possible.
The replica, as seen yesterday at the Piazza Dante in Naples
For those who were not able to experience the 'miracle' firsthand, they could also follow the stunt online via http://www.immaginapuoi.it/, where the event could be followed via twitter posts, video streams, comments from the public and photos collected from various social networks. This is the second unconventional campaign M&C Saatchi have staged for Fastweb, after last year's Fasten #Shibuya campaign, which brought a little piece of Tokyo to the Moscova metro station in Milan. M&C Saatchi Interactive's Silvio Meazza, says the agency were “Happy to collaborate again with Fastweb to provide new and tangible evidence of what it means to have a faster internet connection.” He says that whilst Christ the Redeemer has been the “Most downloaded and shared image of the year,” this time it has been downloaded 'for real', “With all its weight, straight to the heart of Naples."
This is the second unconventional campaign M&C Saatchi have staged for Fastweb, after last year's Fastlane #Shibuya campaign
M&C Saatchi's creative partner, Vincenzo Gasbarro, believed that Fastweb's latest 'download', would “Bring about a carousel-style Carioca of television crews, musicians, dancers and capoeira, which will mingle and interact with people in a mix of colours, music and emotions in unique Neapolitan fashion” And he wasn't wrong, something a few minutes spent on the Immagina website will reinforce. It's Gasbarro's belief that the campaign underlines the notion that “The internet is above all an opportunity for sharing and exchange between different cultures."
Official M&C Saatchi Milan Website
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK who was as floored by Brazil's risible performance on Tuesday night as anyone else. But can't deny that it was obscenely entertaining!
