About

The Pixuleco / Lulainflado (Brazilian Portuguese: Inflated Lula) is a nickname given to a 12 meter-tall inflatable doll of Brazil's former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva dressed in a prisoner's suit that became a prominent part of the 2015 protests in Brazil. ^[1]

Origin

In 2015, a massive series of anti-corruption and anti-government protests erupted in Brazil in the aftermath of a worsening economic crisis and an investigation of a political corruption scandal involving President Dilma Rousseff's Worker's Party and the state-owned oil company Petrobras. The protesters demanded the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff and the end of the Worker's Party (PT) ruling.^[2] The first wave of the protests, which began on March 15th, was attended by 2.4 million people.^[3] A second protest on April 12th drew more than 700,000 people.^[4]

During the third protest on August 16th, which brought close to a million people together,^[5] the organizers of Movimento Brasil (Brazil Movement) exhibited a 12 meters (39 feet) tall inflatable doll of Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the country's capital, Brasília.^[1] The doll featured a caricature of Lula in black and white prison garb with a ball and chain around his ankle. The effigy was soon dubbed "Pixuleco," a reference to the codeword for "money" used by those implicated in the Petrobras corruption scandal. Lula, who ruled the country between 2003 and 2010, is currently being investigated for alleged influence peddling,^[6] and his popularity has eroded ever since.

Spread

Since ots debut appearance at the protest in August, the doll has quickly become extremely popular among Brazilian Internet users, spawning a series of photoshoped images placing the doll in various comical scenarios^[7] under the Twitter hashtag.

After the protests, the doll initiated a tour around Brazil. On August 28, protesters inflated the doll on the bridge Octavio Frias de Oliveira, in São Paulo. The studio of the TV news program Bom Dia São Paulo has windows from which the bridge can be seen, but was aired with the windows closed in order to hide the appearance of doll.^[8] The move to hide the doll has been severely criticized by internet users,^[8] who promptly mocked Globo, the news corporation responsible for the program:

On the same day, it was exhibited in front of City Hall of São Paulo. A turmoil started when supporters of the Worker's Party attacked the protesters, and a member of the Communist Party of Brazil stabbed the doll.^[9] It was fixed by the owners, and on August 30 it appeared at the Paulista Avenue, where it caused another turmoil.^[10] Supporters of the Worker's Party have sworn to stab it again.^[11] Not intimidated by the threats, the protesters continued the tour and carried the doll to Curitiba.^[12]

Search Interest

External References