NBS Swaps Missing Kids Photos With Famous Footballers with Same Name to Raise Awareness

At a key match on Children’s Day in Brazil, the starting lineup for each team (“Flamengo vs Fluminense”) was swapped out with images of missing children of Rio de Janeiro who share the same name as the player. The idea was to draw attention to the problem, which affects about 40,000 children and adolescents every year in Brazil. 

The campaign was the real winner of the match. Missing since the beginning of this month, Luany Cristina dos Santos de Souza, 13 years old, was reunited with her family as a result of the campaign.

“As soon as my granddaughter went missing, I went to FIA (Children and Teenagers Foundation) to register her disappearance and ask for help. They advised me and then gave me a ticket to visit Maracanã stadium, along with other mothers that were also looking for their children. When my granddaughter's picture was exhibited on the screen, a football fan contacted a social assistant who was accompanying us, informing that he had seen my granddaughter walking around Mangueira’s community”, said Mônica de Souza, 53 years old, Luany’s grandmother. 

The day after the game, following an introduction from the FIA, Mônica went to the community with banners that contained Luany’s picture and information. She left Mangueira’s community after three days of searching, holding her granddaughter by the hand. 

The campaign was part of the project "Hope’s Line-up," created by NBS, which has Flamengo as a client and Fluminense as a partner. Disque Denúncia (Hotline) and the social program SOS Missing Child, and FIA (Children and Teenagers Foundation) also supported the campaign. 

“This campaign proves that it is possible to associate sports with social issues of this country, providing significant results. We were on call to receive information during the football match and we received a lot of calls, which emphasises the importance of this kind of initiative”, commented Luiz Henrique Oliveira, programme coordinator of SOS Missing Child, who thanked everyone involved. 

“This Project is part of a mindset that we are developing with Flamengo in order for it to become a citizen club, involved with relevant and important social issues. This time, we had the wonderful support of Fluminense, Disque Denúncia (Hotline) and FIA. Finding Luany fills our heart of joy and proves the engaging power that football can and should have”, said André Lima, NBS’s Creative VP.