MERCADO LIVRE | CALL OF DISCOUNTS | 2025
The Night Neymar Turned Into a Chair / MERCADO LIVRE "CALL OF DISCOUNTS"
You're watching a game stream, and suddenly Neymar is a chair. More precisely, it's time to find the Neymar disguised as a chair, and however long it takes to find him decides how big the discount on that chair gets. It sounds completely absurd, but the results actually followed through.
The problem
Mercado Livre wanted to reach Gen Z through gaming. What they zeroed in on was Call of Duty's Prop Hunt mode, where players disguise themselves as everyday objects to hide. Mercado Livre and GUT São Paulo have won a Grand Prix in a different category three years running.
The insight
Instead of running it as an ad, blend it right into the game itself. That was the winning move here. Turn the products themselves into characters in the game, and the line between playing and shopping disappears.
The idea
Neymar disguises himself as a chair, a speaker, a lamp, and runs from enemies by Prop Hunt rules. He streamed live on Twitch with streamer Nobru, and viewers joined in trying to find him. The longer he survived, the bigger the discount on that product got. 420 real products were hidden away inside the game.
What happened
More than 180,000 people watched simultaneously on Twitch. In 45 minutes, more than 10,000 6,000 discount codes were used, and sales topped $1.3 million. The campaign won the Grand Prix in Entertainment Lions for Gaming at Cannes Lions 2025.
Afterthought
Mashing together game streaming and online shopping, turning Neymar into merchandise - nobody normally thinks of that, nobody normally greenlights that, nobody normally pulls it off. But they did all of it and won a Grand Prix, so all you can do is laugh. I kind of want to turn someone into a chair too.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2025
