Lula calls Globo hunger ad a lie as campaign defends its data

Lula calls Globo hunger ad a lie as campaign defends its data
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has challenged a Globo-broadcast hunger-awareness advertisement, saying its claim about millions of people lacking food was false and ordering officials to identify the organization behind it. His response sets his account of government progress against the broadcaster’s and campaign organizers’ reliance on official survey-based estimates.

Speaking at a National Energy Policy Council meeting, Lula said he was startled by the message while watching television at home and asked officials to investigate “who is this entity that Globo is supporting, who is telling this lie.” He argued that public-school meals and policies aimed at reducing child malnutrition made the figure difficult to accept. Lula also cast the dispute in broader terms, saying the media often gives greater weight to criticism than to recognition of government achievements.

Globo, however, said it was not presenting its own statistic. The broadcaster described the campaign as an initiative of Pacto Contra a Fome, a social organization it has supported since 2023 by providing advertising space for public-interest issues. It said the data used in the campaign came from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics’ official PNAD Continuous household survey.

The account of the advertisement also points to a distinction in the disputed wording. Lula referred to a message about seven million children, while the campaign script cited by Folha de S.Paulo said that “7 million Brazilians” did not know what they would eat that day. Pacto Contra a Fome said the rounded figure was based on PNAD’s 2024 estimate of nearly 6.5 million people living with severe food insecurity.

Unlike Lula’s emphasis on policies already in place, the organization said it recognizes recent advances but sees a need for continued improvements until no Brazilian goes hungry.

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