Themed Pizza Deliveries Bring Viral Twist to EstrelaBet World Cup Campaign
Branded “Operation Zica Neles”, the initiative leans into a long-standing element of Brazilian football culture: superstition.
EstrelaBet has launched a strikingly unconventional marketing activation in Brazil, taking its latest World Cup-themed campaign far beyond digital advertising and into real-world streets — and even people’s homes.
Branded “Operation Zica Neles”, the initiative leans into a long-standing element of Brazilian football culture: superstition. The campaign playfully builds on the idea of “jinxing” opponents, positioning itself as a coordinated “task force” designed to symbolically influence rival teams’ fortunes.
At the centre of the activation is an unexpected partnership with a São Paulo-based pizzeria, which has been delivering specially customised pizzas to selected customers as part of the stunt. The deliveries are designed not just as food drops, but as participatory moments in the campaign narrative, encouraging recipients to engage with the idea that “the curse has already worked” — a tongue-in-cheek reference to Italy’s absence from the competition.
The activation was captured on video, showcasing genuine reactions from customers as they were brought into the fictional “zica” movement, blurring the line between marketing and immersive street-level entertainment.
According to EstrelaBet’s Head of Branding, Victor Blecker, the aim is to occupy a cultural space that already exists within Brazilian football fandom — one built on rituals, humour, and collective belief. By turning a simple pizza delivery into a narrative-driven experience, the brand seeks to transform passive spectatorship into active participation.
The campaign will continue in the coming weeks with additional digital characters, including “Vovó Zica” and “Marta Chef”, alongside former Brazilian international Zé Roberto, who joins as a brand ambassador.
To further drive engagement, EstrelaBet is also rolling out a prize pool of R$10 million, distributed through weekly challenges designed to incentivise user participation — particularly around betting on Brazil’s key rivals.
The result is a campaign that blends sport, superstition and street-level marketing into a single, highly shareable activation aimed at capturing attention during one of football’s biggest global moments.
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