How Subway Brazil’s New Sandwich Helps Youth in Favelas

To raise awareness of poverty in Brazilian favelas, Subway Brazil partnered with NGO Gerando Falcões and creative agency Dentsu Creative Brazil to create the Sub da Quebrada, a sandwich designed by youth from the ‘quebradas’ (the favela neighbourhoods) themselves.

Available nationwide for a limited time, the steak, bacon, pepperoni and cheese-filled sub emphasised Subway's commitment to social development and transformation, and had a portion of its sales donated to support the work carried out by Gerando Falcões. The partnering charity is a social development ecosystem that works in a network to provide education, economic development and citizenship services in Brazilian favelas as well as carry out systematic transformation programs in these communities.

To discover how this meaty, money-raising menu item came about and how it supported education and systemic transformation projects in over 6,000 neighbourhoods, LBB’s Ben Conway spoke to the creatives and brand teams behind the campaign. Taking us through the project are Rodrigo Munaretto, head of marketing at Subway Brazil, Murilo Torezan, creative director at Dentsu Creative Brazil and Juliana Plaster, new business director at Gerando Falcões.

LBB> How did this project come about? Have you worked together before?

Murilo> Dentsu Creative has been working for the Subway brand for a few years and ‘Sub da Quebrada’ emerged from the desire to give more representation to the favelas. Uniting the brand's DNA of making the ingredients available to people to assemble, the sandwich and Gerando Falcões' mission to put the poverty from the favelas in the museum.

Juliana> It’s Gerando Falcões’ first collab with Subway but we have a long-standing partnership with Southrock, the restaurant operator of the brand in Brazil. In December 2022, we started to put together the partnership - a collaboration with our beneficiaries and the young people who participate in the projects in the favelas we serve. Everything was voted on: the name of the project, the ingredients, and the visual identity. The favelas had a voice and actively participated in the process.

Rodrigo> Since its foundation, Subway has had the concern and commitment to development and social transformation in its DNA. The various partnerships already made by the brand to help different social causes prove this - such as the ‘Cookie Rosa’, in partnership with the Américas Amigas Organisation, which supported the fight against breast cancer. 

The ‘Sub da Quebrada’ was designed precisely with one objective in mind: to give visibility and support to the work carried out by Gerando Falcões, which delivers education, culture, sport, economic development and citizenship services in around 6,000 favelas in Brazil.

LBB> Where did the idea come from to design a new sub with young people from the favelas?

Rodrigo> From the beginning, it was to be a collaboration between the brand and the young people of Gerando Falcões, to bring representation and personality to the sandwich. ‘Sub da Quebrada’ went through several stages and in all of them, there was a four-hand construction between the brand and members of the NGO. 

The first phase had an exclusive workshop for young people from the Gerando Falcões’ gastronomy course at one of the Subway stores. They were able to learn how to assemble the brand's sandwiches and act like real chefs, putting together sandwich options according to their personal tastes. A judging commission selected the four best flavours and combinations of ingredients, as well as the four best name suggestions for the new product. 

The options were then put to a vote among the NGO's favela leaders throughout Brazil. The winning combination brought indulgence thanks to its ingredients and the amount of protein used, and the most voted name was ‘Sub da Quebrada’. 

The art printed on the packaging of the new product was also voted on by the leaders of the favelas - there were two options, also developed and made by graffiti artists who support Gerando Falcões. The winner, ‘Poverty in the Museum’, was conceived by the artist Wbiracy Pais-BIRA and inspired by Gerando Falcões’ mission to transform the poverty of the favelas into a museum item.

LBB> Why was the involvement of Gerando Falcões’ youths and social leaders so important? 

Murilo> The favela is full of talent who haven't had opportunities yet. And this sub needed to have the face of the favela. We wanted to explore their truth, so it was essential that every detail of ‘Sub da Quebrada’, from the name to the packaging, to the recipe, was created by them. The biggest challenge was to tell this story in full, showcasing the different talents of people in the favela as protagonists in every communication effort. 

Juliana> Favela participation in the creation of social products is essential for Gerando Falcões. We invited young people who had been trained in gastronomy through our professional qualification programs to help create the sandwich, and graffiti artists recommended by our social leaders to create the visual identity. This potential was united with Dentsu's creative and Subway's co-creation, and this mix generated an authentic campaign.

Rodrigo> For us, as a brand, this was the most important part of the project since we wanted to bring representation to the product and make it as genuine as possible. This was a project literally created with the young people of Gerando Falcões: from its conception to its completion. And for us, this is the strength of ‘Sub da Quebrada’, since it represents and brings the identity of young people from the communities.

LBB> The campaign also involves a documentary - what were the key elements you wanted to show in the film? What were some of the most rewarding findings from filming the documentary?

Murilo> The idea was to show the power of the favela. People's voices, textures and truth. To show that by uniting different talents and visions, we can achieve common results and give the favelas more prominence, placing people at the centre of our communication through a flavour created by people from the favelas themselves. Seeing their eagerness and joy in the process are the lessons we will take with us for life.

LBB> Rodrigo, how did you ensure the campaign was true to Subway’s brand, as well as authentic to Gerando Falcões’ youths and leaders?

Rodrigo> Since our founding, one of our main concerns has been to assist in the development and transformation of the society in which we operate. Therefore, our projects and brand campaigns seek to follow precisely in this direction. The launch of ‘Sub da Quebrada’ aligns strongly with Subway, as it brings the innovation present in all our brand launches, which always seek to please the palates of consumers. It also has the essence and representativeness of the young people of Gerando Falcões, who participated in the entire product idealisation process. 

The biggest challenge was in developing a sandwich that represented the favela, but that would also be commercially viable in terms of consumer price. The favelas’ local sandwiches are full of ingredients, mainly with different proteins, and are reasonably priced. We learned from the workshop process which ingredients were most valued by favela residents and which delivered the Subway identity.

LBB> What has the reaction and results of this campaign been so far?

Murilo> From beginning to end, every person who participated in the project was representing not just themselves, but, in their own words, "representing thousands of people". That's why it was an immeasurable result to see the pride on their faces at the launch of the campaign and also to see the power of the favela represented throughout the entire narrative of a high-reach campaign like this.

Rodrigo> We cannot disclose sales numbers or information about ongoing campaigns. However, we can say that ‘Sub da Quebrada’ has been very well accepted by our consumers throughout the national territory, who see that the product, in addition to having a lot of flavours, is very important for the social transformation and reality of young people from different communities in Brazil. As a brand, we are really excited and happy with the results achieved so far and especially with the acceptance of the product by consumers.

Juliana> We were very happy with the final result and the whole visual identity of the product, which gave even more character to the partnership. The support from part of the sales of ‘Sub da Quebrada’ will help Gerando Falcões to continue maintaining our projects in education, economic development, and citizenship and run systemic transformation programs in over 6,000 Brazilian favelas.