Subway Brazil's New Sandwich Combination Brings Visibility to Gerando Falcões Causes
SUBWAY, the world's largest restaurant chain, in partnership with Gerando Falcões, a social development ecosystem that works in a network to accelerate the impact power of leaders in Brazilian favelas, with a mission to transform poverty in the slums into 'museum pieces', presents the new Sub da Quebrada. This new offering brings the perfect combination of Italian bread, barbecue steak, bacon, pepperoni, sliced cheddar cheese, lettuce, and seasoned mayonnaise, and will be available for a limited time at all locations nationwide.
The new sandwich, created collaboratively, not only offers great flavour to consumers but also aims to bring more visibility to the cause supported by Gerando Falcões, strengthening their work and emphasising SUBWAY's commitment to social development and transformation. Co-created in partnership with the youth from the NGO, taking into consideration their preferences and choices regarding ingredients, names, and other product details, Sub da Quebrada will have a portion of its sales donated to support the work carried out by Gerando Falcões.
"We understand the importance of speaking up and bringing visibility to social causes, especially those that concern the future of young people and the social transformation that can be achieved. This partnership with Gerando Falcões is a source of great pride and happiness for all of us, as we recognise it as a highly reputable organization that is constantly striving to positively impact and transform the lives of people in the slums," comments Rodrigo Munaretto, head of marketing at Subway Brazil.
To reach the final product that consumers will be able to savour in the stores, the new sandwich went through several stages, with a collaborative process between the brand and members of the NGO. The first phase involved an exclusive workshop for young students from Gerando Falcões' gastronomy course, held at one of the SUBWAY stores. During this session, they had the opportunity to learn the step-by-step process and assembly of the brand's sandwiches. Furthermore, it was during this phase that they acted as true chefs, creating sandwich options according to their individual tastes. On that day, a judging panel selected the top four flavours and ingredient combinations, as well as the 4 best name suggestions for the new product. Following this stage, the options were taken for voting among the favelas leaders of the NGO throughout Brazil. The most voted recipe, chosen by them and the winner of the competition, stood out for its protein indulgence, and the most voted name was 'Sub da Quebrada,' which also names the campaign. Additionally, the packaging of the new product underwent voting among the favela leaders, with two options developed and created by graffiti artists supporting Gerando Falcões. The winning design was conceived by artist Wbiracy Pais-BIRA, featuring the artwork 'Poverty in the Museum.' For him, the inspiration came from representing Gerando Falcões' mission of transforming poverty in the slums into a museum piece.
"Being able to count on Gerando Falcões, the youth, and the favelas leaders throughout the entire product development process was truly amazing. We are very proud of the entire process and the outcome we achieved, with the confidence that the Sub da Quebrada can further support the work carried out by the organization. We are excited for our customers to experience this innovation," concludes Rodrigo.
According to Dentsu Creative, the agency responsible for creating the launch campaign for the Sub da Quebrada, three pillars were crucial from the beginning of the process: relevance, significance, and authenticity. Therefore, it was extremely important that all efforts were relevant to people's conversations, to the communities being represented, and rooted in the truth of the 'quebradas' (favelas). Thus, it was of utmost importance to involve real representatives who could authentically bring the values of the 'quebradas' in every phase of the process.
"Our role in the strategy of this project was to ensure that all creative materials and advertising were in agreement and respected the fundamental pillars. We were very careful with each stage so that nothing happened unintentionally and that as a brand, Subway was not competing for the spotlight with the creators of the name, flavour, and key visual of the campaign - the people. That's why we started this project with a documentary that reveals all the behind-the-scenes co-creation and authentic partnership between Subway, Gerando Falcões, and all the carefully chosen participants representing the 'quebradas' (slums). This first step showcases the strength of our pillars and the authentic and genuine nature of the project. We are eager for the next steps, where the campaign brings even more relevance and significance to Subway and, most importantly, to the 'quebrada,' as the Sub belongs to them and is for them," commented Aloisio Pinto, chief strategy Officer of Dentsu Creative.
