Turning the page on the 'mutt complex'

This year, the Cannes Lions spotlight is on Brazil, the inaugural recipient of the Festival’s Creative Country of the Year. The accolade, which recognises Brazil’s exceptional contribution to creativity that drives progress and growth, is supported by Brazilian media powerhouse Estadão. Here, editor Igor Ribeiro explains why, if you want to understand what makes Brazil worthy of such an honour, look no further than its beloved caramel mutt.

WHAT best defines the Brazilian soul? Let’s avoid banal and stereotypical answers like carnival, samba and foot- ball, please. These ideas illustrate one side of Brazil — for export — but they don’t define its essence. A friend of mine would say that Brazil has ‘borogodó’, but I don’t dare translate that word for an international audience. But I imagine that many of the readers of this article must be asking themselves the same question regarding the recipient of the 2025 Creative Country of the Year, the first in the Cannes Lions Festival’s history.

So what is it? What word, adjective, concept, person or thing best explains the sunny, festive, diverse and creative soul that overflows from Brazilians? It’s the caramel mutt.

Or, as proper canine etiquette dictates, the mixed-breed dog, whose colouration ranges from light cream to dark orange. But caramel mutt — “vira-lata caramel”, in Portuguese— is a much better description, as any Brazilian would proudly agree.

(And here, in parenthesis, I should explain the ‘mutt complex’ — “complexo de vira-lata” — a canine con- cept that is also closely associated with Brazil. Its origin comes fromthe 1950 World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, when national self-esteem collapsed with the defeat of our foot- ball team to Uruguay. Writer Nelson Rodrigues coined the term ‘mutt complex’ to describe our exaggerated self-pity and the defeatism that embarrassed us and, for decades, prevented us from celebrating our own culture and values. Rodrigues compared us to a poor and abandoned mutt, a creature that roams the city streets alone, cared only by other homeless and marginalised groups.

It took us decades to turn the page. According to DM9’s Icaro Doria,who is the president of the Print & Publishing Jury at this year’s Lions, it took another historic and even more shameful defeat on home soil for us to heal. That was the 2014 World Cup, when the Brazilian team suc- cumbed to Germany. Thanks to the internet and Brazilians’ natural talent for creating memes, digital platforms were already full of jokes — most of them made by us — long before André Schürrle’s seventh goal. I agree with Icaro: that was when Brazil finally exorcised the mutt complex. And perhaps it was also when we began to exalt the caramel mutt. End of parenthesis.)

This is not supposed to be a simplistic analogy, so let me draw on another popular canine breed in Brazil, this one of European lineage (specifically British, like the Lions): the border collie. Let’s analyse the behavioural traits of each breed, since their physical appearance doesn’t help much — many caramel mutts look like border collies and vice versa. The caramel mutt is sassy. It likes most people and, if you give it a little attention, it will pull your arm, hug you and kiss you. The border collie is more like a gentleman: it won’t invade your space but will become a loyal friend if you win its trust. The caramel mutt is always nearby and dislikes goodbyes. It prefers everyone to stay together all the time. The border collie, on the other hand, is well-adjusted in this regard: it enjoys being in company but also values its space.

The caramel mutt is more expansive: it’s cheerful most of the time but will complain if it senses some- thing is off. The border collie, a faithful companion, has much more balanced emotions. Its renowned focus harks back to its origins as a herding dog. Highly intelligent, it can ignore the rest of the world and dedicate itself to a flock of sheep, its owner or playing fetch. But the caramel mutt is scatter-brainedand wants to do everything at once: play, ask the nearest human for affection and chase a motorbike. Science has already proven that people with ADHD are very sharp — and caramel mutts are too. They have the kind of intelligence that enables them to play, seek affection and chase a bike simultaneously. But it’s worth highlighting that this isn’t a contest to identify the most adorable dog. Both the caramel mutt and the border collie are charmingin their own way. Both can be found all over Brazil, along with various other dog breeds and equally beloved mongrels: the ‘black ones’ (‘pretinhos’), the ‘mango threads’ (‘fiapos de manga’), the ‘little rags’ (‘estopinha’) and all the others that represent Brazilian diversity.

Diversity in fauna and flora. In geography and culture. ( New parenthesis. Colonisation and migration movements in Brazil have been and continue to be numerous, from groups as disparate as the Portuguese, Lebanese, Dutch, Japanese, Italians, Jews, Bolivians... In many of these waves of migration, the indigenous population suffered and was re- duced to half of what it was in the 16th cen- tury. However, it persisted and continues with its ancestral culture and connection to nature. And while Brazil has a sad history of slavery, African immigration continues to this day, now driven by more noble reasons such as business and asylum.

All this movement of people, with their different customs and dogs, has made us one of the most diverse countries in the world. This is Brazil’s DNA. This feeds the roots of our creativity. End of parenthesis.)

So the Brazilian soul is the caramel mutt. It is its diversity and creativity. It’s such a defining characteristic of ours that there’s even a bill in progress to trans- form the caramel mutt into an intangible Brazilian heritage. And there’s also National Mutt Day: July 31, created to raise awareness about the conscious adoption of mixed-breed dogs and cats.

Unfortunately, July 31 isn’t a holiday in Brazil. But it should be. Certainly, my loved ones and I would go for a walk in the park, as we usually do on Saturdays. My loved ones are my wife and these guys in the photo: the caramel mutt Pagú and the border collie Oreo.The four of us also share the most diverse genes, from Africa to tropical forests, from the Scottish Highlands to the Middle East. And that’s what makes us a true family with a Brazilian soul and essence.