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Cacau Show (Director). (2022, May 30). laCreme: A Revanche. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghOZpvQ1V-k

Cauti, C. (2022, August 8). Ferrero registra crescimento de 30% ao ano no Brasil e considera país “estratégico.”Exame. https://exame.com/invest/mercados/brasil-estrategico-ferrer-crescimento/

Daily TV reach by age Russia 2021. (n.d.). Statista. Retrieved November 11, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1025856/russia-daily-reach-of-media-through-tv-by-age/

Ferrero do Brasil: A história. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2022, from https://www.ferrero.com.br/ferrero-do-brasil/ferrero-do-brasil

Glick, P. (2005). Ambivalent sexism, power distance, and gender inequality across cultures (pp. 283–302). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584329.015

Hall, E. T. (1989). Beyond culture. Anchor Books. https://go.exlibris.link/68f39y4z

Hofstede, G. H. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values (Vol. 5). Sage.

Hofstede, G. H., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind: Intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival (Rev. and expand 3rd). McGraw-Hill. https://go.exlibris.link/CS3bHGQh

Raffaello. (n.d.-a). Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://raffaello.ru/

Raffaello Brasil (Director). (2021, May 10). Raffaello | Descubra esse sabor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYA1AK0zSYU

Raffaello: Любовь против стереотипов. (n.d.-b). Advertology.Ru - все о рекламе, маркетинге и PR. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from http://www.advertology.ru/article143747.htm

Sauce, E. (2022, February 19). Cacau Show profile, mission, vision and market analysis | Free Essay Examples | EssaySauce.com. ESSAY SAUCE. https://www.essaysauce.com/business-essays/cacau-show-profile-mission-vision-and-market-analysis/

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Реклама Россия щедрая душа   Кокос и вафля. (2017, October 30). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjDDF2qwi8I

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The ads of such unalike countries, with entirely different historical backgrounds, express their cultural characteristics in very contrasting ways, even though in some of Hofstede's dimensions, Brazil and Russia are pretty similar.

On the visual level, the contrast is evident in the colour scheme colours  (brighter, vivid colours in Brazilian ads and duller tones in Russian ones) and even the choice of seasons. As we can see in Russian culture, chocolate is associated more with cold, wintery weather, New Year celebrations, and the 8th of March, when it is still quite chilly in most parts of the country. Even the product description on the official Russian Rafaello site refers to "snow-white" packaging. Even though chocolate is commonly associated with cold days, Brazilian advertising refers to its tropical climate. The ads refer to sunny days or spring.

On the level of messages and their manifestations, the Brazilian ads are much shorter and more concentrated on the product being advertised in a rather pragmatic way. In contrast, Russian ads seem to be trying to express various ideas about life and, at the same time, promote the product and create its positive image.

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Advertisements Cultural Analysis  and Comparison

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Advertisements Cultural Analysis  and Comparison

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As a way of analysing aspects related to the high context of Brazil and Russia in advertising, the six cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede(1980) are adopted and discussed in this study.

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Russia and  Brazil rank highly for Power distance and its power relations, and this Hofstede dimension in Brazilian ads is evidenced here through the quality standards. The chocolate brand is in a superior position, something that can strengthen the link between product, consumer and brand. According to Ferrero Brazil's commercial operations manager, Renato Zanoni, "Ferrero Rocher is a much more adult consumption, as it is usually related to giving gifts. Generally, a financially independent adult is the target audience." (Cauti,2022) Different financial distribution reflects the power distance dimension.

Russian Rafaello's ad is also targeted at adults, but it encourages lovers to appreciate each other for who they are and to protect the uniqueness of their relationship. This is a very unusual take on the topic for Russia, the country with a very high power distance index, which usually implies gender inequality, lack of between-gender comparisons, stable gender hierarchy, and ambivalent gender ideologies.(Glick,2005). However,  in Rossiya ad, the image of two characters reading together a children's encyclopaedia at the end of the video, underlines the role of the elderly in society with a high power distance to educate children and thus to be respected.

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According to Hofstede's (1980) dimensions, Brazil is a collectivist society; however, by choice of models an individualistic strategy and appreciates more on personal interest. The models are young females, appearing with facial expressions of contentment in the advertisement in a game of images, alternating between the ingredients of the chocolate. In addition, the models have different skin tones, giving commercial diversity.

The messages of the Russian Rafaello ad are pretty implicit. The product is not shown in the video, only the brand logo at the beginning and the end of the clip, which doesn't align with the idea that in collectivist societies, the product is usually shown in the ad (Wurtz,2005,p 289-290). One explanation could be that nowadays Russian culture seems to be moving towards individualism due to its high level of atomisation.

In "Rossiya" ad, we can see a nuclear family, though traditionally, in the past, families lived together with grandparents in extended families. Even though nowadays they live separately, Grandpa visits the boy, so some traditions are still kept, such as caring about and bonding with your grandchildren. This is quite frequent when images of grandparents and extended family are used in Russian advertising. This aligns with the Russian perception of "ideal" cultural norms as more collectivistic.

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The idea of inclusion and diversity, more distinctive for feminine societies,  is present in the ads of both countries - in Brazilian ads through showing different races, in Russian Rafaello's ad through a diversity of the forms of love.

The target audience of the Russian Rafaello ad is young people of both sexes. Still, traditionally upper-market confectionary products mainly target men as primary buyers of these products in masculine societies. The textual messages in this ad are verbalisations of the main gender and age stereotypes in Russian society. A man should be physically strong (tall), ambitious, handy, and mature. A woman should be small, physically weak, feminine, and attractive. Couples shouldn't rush into marriage at a young age and should settle down with love affairs at an old age. These concepts correspond with a masculine society, but surprisingly enough, according to Hofstede's findings, Russia is a feminine society. However, if we look at the attributes of masculinity in Hofstede's model, we can find strict gender roles and sex inequality among its main foundations. Also, collectivism can be mentioned here because being "not normal" in such societies is considered shameful and should be hidden or avoided.

In Brazilian ads, we still see predominantly female models or their interaction with a male model (Cacau Show) in quite a sexualised and objectified manner, intensifying the concept of indulgence in them. In contrast, in Russian ads, female models represent either anti-feminine qualities (Rafaello) or a concerned mother worried about her son's inability to establish proper family bonds with his grandfather (Rossiya).

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Brazil has a high uncertainty avoidance score, and rules are critical to a healthy environment with relaxing moments. This cultural dimension is present through the colour choices. The set of colours mixes the blue and white tones, which refer to the colours of the sky, while the light pink background contributes to a sense of seriousness or sophistication, which can even be a brand identity. Mixed with these more closed tones, we can see the subtle marking of red, the official colour of the brand, contributing to the pleasant presentation of the advertisement.

The advertisement for La Creme is very detailed, with several elements in the scene that refer to a village. This organisation aligns uncertainty avoidance dimensions reflecting a society that needs a set of rules and structure also present in colour elements choice. The colour choices mix the shades of brown, which are present in the models' clothing or hair tones. At the same time, the dark background combined with these more hushed tones, the marking of the green of the leaves and yellow contributes to the "summertime" without denying the Brazilian identity as a tropical country.

Despite a very high level of uncertainty avoidance in Russia, the Russian Rafaello's ad shows standing out of the crowd, fighting stereotypes, and not following cultural norms, which contradicts the characteristics of high uncertainty avoidance: intolerance of deviant persons, being different is considered dangerous.

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Long-term orientation, which is almost twice lower in Brazil than in Russia, is not directly manifested in the ads. However, the Brazilian ad (La creme) embraces French culture, incorporating it into its own, is more representative of a long-term-oriented society. On the other hand, the Russian ad (Rossiya) implies tight family connections and traditions and promotes the idea of sharing. The overall ad message perfectly aligns with the company's slogan, "Russia is a generous soul". The boy uses his piggy bank money to buy a chocolate bar. He runs to visit him, and this emphasises the idea of caring about other people (especially your family) and being ready to share everything with them. These characteristics align with short-term orientation despite Russian ranking very high in the long-term one and its image of a pragmatic society.

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Cultural elements - Brazil and Russia: High Context cultures

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Cultural elements - Brazil and Russia: High Context cultures

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The analysis carried out in this study is based on reflections on identity and cultural construction. Edward T. Hall(1989)  defined the concepts of high and low context. In high-context communication, most information is already present, while very little is in the encoded and explicit message. Low-context communication is the opposite; the information is in the explicit code. In general, it is possible to find the use of connotative language in all advertisements; communication is non-verbal. Cultural elements such as facial expressions and gestures must be considered in a high context.

Surprisingly, the Brazilian Rafaello ad doesn't fully align with the high-context culture; the message is relatively straightforward: "Rafaello. Enjoyed the flavour." It even lists the chocolate ingredients in a verbal form. However, it still uses non-verbal clues such as facial expressions to convey the pleasure of tasting Rafaello and mellow instrumental music in the background. On the other hand, in the Cacau Show ad, the message is more implicit; there is a lot of non-verbal communication between the characters, such as flirtatious glances and gestures.  In the Russian Rafaello
ad, the textual clues are given in the video because otherwise, even for a high-contextculture, the ideas presented would be challenging to decipher, and this could lead to a complete loss of transparency of the ad's main idea. Concise verbal messages (one or two words, primarily adjectives) are incorporated into the settings of each sequence: picture on the wall, tattoo designs book, children's colouring page, military chevron, IKEA-style assembly manual, a neon sign in the bar, poster, taxi roof sign, words on the car side mirror, print on a cap. The lack of actual verbalisation is also compensated in this ad by the characters' kinesics, facial expressions, and oculesics, which manifest their affection for their loved ones - the ad shows a lot of touching, caressing, hugging, kissing, and a lot of eye
contact. In addition, the product is not shown in this video, and references to the brand are only given at the beginning and end.

The message of the second Russian ad, Rossiya,
is even more implicit; there are a lot of details and tiny aspects that only an observant viewer with an experience of high-context culture can notice. However, unlike Raffaello's ad, the video shows the product multiple times.

Thus the advertisement created for Brazil and Russia uses strategies to compensate for the lack of context.

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Nonverbal techniques are used to convey the message:

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Nonverbal techniques are used to convey the message:

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La Creme ad reinforces the idea of ​​sophistication through elements of French culture, such as the name of chocolate. Furthermore, a song in Portuguese with a French accent plays during the ad; thus, Brazil's high indulgence dimension is expressed in the ads. Individuals from such societies are willing to do whatever they can for happiness. However, they are less likely to have moral discipline and do not prioritise social order. (Hofstede et al., 2010). There is a stereotyped view of women,  portrayed as an object of conquest or representation of pleasure, which is also a characteristic of masculinity dimension.

In contrast to Brazilian ads, the colour scheme of the Russian videos is subtle, with hushed tones, some of the sequences are filled with gentle light, and some, happening in the evening, are full of warm, pleasant lighting. Music is mellow, not very dynamic. All those non-verbal factors create an enjoyable, comforting atmosphere because chocolate/sweets as a product are close to indulgence. Still, this concept can be expressed in a more subdued or indirect way in restrained cultures.

In the "Rossiya" ad, there is no reference to the ingredients of this chocolate bar (the flavour is coconut and waffles). However, it would have been more logical to use some tropical images to promote pleasure and luxury. Indulgence, the core component of many ads for chocolate, is not used in this commercial. Instead, it supports traditional family values and bonds, which align with traditionalistic and restrained societies.

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(Ferrero Do Brasil: A História, n.d.)  Ferrero
has been present in Brazil since 1994 when it brought the Kinder Egg to the market. The company grew and added more products to its line with immense Brazilian
receptivity. According to Ferrero Brazil's commercial operations manager, Renato Zanoni, "Undoubtedly, the South and Southeast regions are the regions where Ferrero has a complete range. In Brazil's North, Northeast and Midwest, temperature and weather conditions have become a major problem. Heat and humidity are fatal to chocolate. That's why we defined a different strategy for these regions, where we have a different approach but still can sell all year round and are more resistant to local temperatures".

The Brazilian Rafaello ad campaign video is relatively short and rather universal in its approach to local customers.

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Love doesn't care - Rafaello ad with English subtitles 

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As for the Russian market, Rafaello is a a very popular brand that ranked as the No. 1  in the segment of sweets in sets in 2009. The Russian Rafaello site states, "Such success became possible due to … the unique combination of inimitable taste, exquisite snow-white packaging, and, of course, a romantic image".(Raffaello, n.d.-a)    A romantic image of the company's products derives from the tradition of giving sweets in sets to women on special occasions, especially for International Women's Day, widely celebrated
in Russia. Historically, the 8th of March marks progress in the fight for gender equality. In its Russian video, Raffaello declares that we are different but equal in our right to be ourselves and to be loved. This is a relatively long promotional video, not aimed to be a TV advertisement due to its length of 1 min 50 sec. The video is a part of the YouTube ad campaign with short videos on love and its different forms and aspects. According to its creators, the campaign's main objective is "to inspire those in love".(Raffaello, n.d.-b)

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Love doesn't care - Rafaello ad with English subtitles -  Любви всё равно

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The example presents the advertisement of the Brazilian brand Cacau Show (Cacau Show, 2022). The local
Brazilian company Cacau Show was founded by a 17-year-old entrepreneur Alexandre Tadeu da Costa, in 1988. It grew from a bit of business in São Paulo to 2800 franchise stores throughout Brazil.   Today it is the largest chain of chocolates in the world in the number of stores. In 2013 Cacau Show
won the prize World Retail Awards in France as the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year.

Unlike gourmet chocolate producers, the company targets the upper and middle middle-class segment, aiming to produce "quality chocolate, less sugar, and more cocoa
in the recipe" (Sauce, 2022). The Cacau Show products present sophistication in the packaging and variety of
flavours so that they reach the primary consumers in a more incisive way: women and children. (Cauti, 2022).

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"Rossiya" (Реклама Россия, 2017), a Soviet and Russian chocolate factory, was
founded in 1969. Since 1995 it has been owned by the Swiss company Nestlé. It became the first enterprise in the USSR to produce full-cycle chocolate, from roasting cocoa beans to delivering finished products. The advertisement of one
of its brands, "Russia is a generous soul!" is a TV commercial, so its target audience is people of all age groups, and in terms of age, it is much broader than the target audience of Rafaello's Russian YouTube video. However, according to multiple kinds of research, young Russian people tend not to watch TV as much as older groups. About 70 % of people between the age of 18-24 prefer the Internet over TV. Thus, as we can see, the characters in the "Rossiya" chocolate ad are people from other age categories, excluding young people. (Daily TV Reach by Age Russia 2021, n.d.)

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Реклама Россия щедрая душа   Кокос и вафля

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When producing an advertisement, creators make decisions that can lead to specific readings and narratives, affecting the perception of their receivers. However, the cultural understanding of advertising is not passive: the construction of meaning by those who read these images depends on a tangle of factors. Moreover, one factor that affects this construction of meaning, both by the creators/senders and the receivers of advertisements, is the cultural environments where these images and models transit.

The following items discuss the forms of interaction and cultural circulation of chocolate advertisements from companies in Brazil and Russia as an example,  Based on Hall's (1989)  and Hofstede's (1980) theories.

The advertisements analysed here cover international companies, Rafaello, national companies, Cacau Show in Brazil and "Rossiya" in Russia. In addition to exploring the advertisements, we seek to establish comparisons and contrasts among these ads.