A young girl has drawn a dragon and is now explaining its story to her mother. As she speaks, her drawing comes to life, and the two of them enter a world born from the child’s imagination. The mobile phone is nowhere in the frame; it has been left in another room. And its absence is one of the most important details of the new campaign by Brazilian telecommunications brand Vivo.
For Children’s Day in Brazil, celebrated on October 12, Vivo, in collaboration with agency Africa Creative, presented a film as part of its communication platform Tem Tempo Pra Tudo (There’s Time for Everything). The campaign reminds parents that connection with their children depends not only on how accessible they are through technology, but also on how present they are in the moments they spend together.
The campaign draws on a phenomenon known as technoference, which refers to the disruption of interpersonal relationships through the use of technology. A phone that interrupts a conversation or distracts attention during time spent together becomes part of everyday life, and the consequences of such interruptions are particularly important in relationships between parents and children.
A three-year study published in the scientific journal JAMA Network Open, which followed 1,303 children and preadolescents aged nine to eleven, also highlights this issue. The study found an association between children’s perceptions of their parents’ phone use and later symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity. Among the statements children were asked to respond to were a wish for their parents to spend less time on mobile phones and frustration over parents looking at screens instead of spending time together.
Rather than presenting this issue through conflict or warning, the campaign conveys it through a simple situation in which a mother listens to her daughter. The girl’s dragon becomes the centre of their shared moment, while technology appears in the film in a different way. The dragon character was created using artificial intelligence, based on the child’s drawing, with its original appearance preserved so that the story would remain recognisably hers.
The film was conceived by Gutto and Dulcidio Caldeira, with Gutto also directing. Live-action production was handled by Boiler Filmes, while Misideal was responsible for AI-assisted production and character development.
For a telecommunications brand whose business is built on connecting people, the choice of subject represents an interesting shift in communication. This time, Vivo is not talking about the possibilities offered by a mobile phone, but about the moments when it is worth putting it aside.
