Luiza que está no Canadá ("Luiza,ánoCanadá who is in Canadá") is a Brazilian Internet meme that arose from a television advertisement for a residential building in Paraíba, the Boulevard Saint Germain, aired in January 2012. In the ad, Geraldo Rabello invites the family to talk about the development, "minus Luiza, who is in Canada". The phrase soon became popular on Twitter and Facebook, quickly becoming one of the most talked about topics on the social networks. The phrase was quoted by celebrities and companies, and inspired the creation of a game.
Luiza returned to Brazil on January 17, commenting that she was anxious and nervous. She later recorded a new commercial to replace the previous one. After this, an official government network published a joke quoting the meme, causing controversy. Years later, Luiza commented that she preferred to remain anonymous, although success had helped her father. Soon after the case, she accepted jobs involving the origin of the meme and went on to study dentistry.
"Luiza who is in Canada" was considered the first meme of 2012 and entered several lists of best memes in Brazil.
Origin
As of January 11, 2012, a thirty-second television ad, about the luxury real estate development Boulevard Saint Germain, by Construtora Água Azul, of the Conserpa Group, began airing in Paraíba. In the advertisement, edited by publicist Alberto Arcela, Geraldo Rabello invites his wife and two children to comment on the condominium, and says, "That's why I made a point of gathering my family, minus Luiza, who is in Canada, to recommend this development." At the time, Luiza Rabello was 17 years old and on exchange in Canada. In the video, she is represented in photos on the picture frames. According to Geraldo, since the Rabello family was well known in Paraíba, viewers would notice the absence of the teenager, causing the producers of the commercial to add such statement.
Initial repercussion and response
The information about Luiza being in Canada was considered completely unnecessary in the ad, making it popular on the Internet. Shortly after the ad began airing, it became the most talked about subject on Twitter, topping the national Trending Topics with the hashtag #LuizaEstanoCanada and becoming popular with several montages on Facebook and YouTube. A Tumblr page was also created specifically for the meme. The meme was quoted by the singer Lenine, who commented before starting a performance: "How wonderful, everyone is here, boy. Only Luiza is not here, because she is in Canada." The phrase was used in songs and parodies of scenes from movies or other famous videos. Companies have also quoted the meme. Decolar launched the promotion "How about a visit to Luiza who is in Canada?" and Claro quoted: "Everybody is participating in the Desafio Claro. Except for Luiza, who is in Canada." Other companies that quoted the meme were Pontofrio, CVC, and Magazine Luiza. The meme inspired the creation of the online game Luiza no Canadá.
For Bom Dia Brasil, Geraldo said that the initial repercussion was negative, but that was soon reversed. He also commented: "There is already a radio station from Canada wanting to find Luiza by any means because the Canadian government is after her." After the video went viral, Geraldo confirmed that Luiza had already received proposals from several companies to star in television commercials. He later commented that he decided to anticipate the daughter's return to Brazil, which was originally going to take place on the 29th: "This is an avalanche, the family got together and thought it was better to anticipate her return to Brazil. She will arrive in the country later this week and needs to be supported by her family at this time. I couldn't imagine that a simple commercial could have all these repercussions. We just want to be on her side." In response, users created a Facebook event to celebrate Luiza's return, and almost 8,000 people confirmed their "presence", and the number soon grew to 12,000. Luiza, who was in Canada, replied, "It's very strange, but I'm taking everything in jest. People I had never seen in my life, that I had never talked to in my life, talking and me not understanding why." The impact on the company was also positive, helping to sell eight apartments worth about 700,000 reais in just over a week.