General Rules: The Consumer Defence Code (CDC; Law 8,078/90)

The CDC is the main law governing advertising and marketing in Brazil, and applies to all sectors and products. Broadly speaking, the CDC:

• prohibits deceptive advertising (Articles 37.1 and 37.3) and abusive advertising, understood, inter alia, as discriminatory messages that exploit fear or superstition, violate environmental rules or take advantage of children’s less developed judgement and naivety (Article 37.2);
• establishes that all advertising must be easily identifiable as such (the principle of “identification” forbids hidden advertising – Article 36); and
• requires the supplier to keep any factual, technical and scientific data that supports advertisements (Article 36) – the burden of proof is always on the advertiser (Article 38).

Specific Sectors

Certain sectors are also governed by specific regulations; see 10.1 Regulated Products.

“Clean City” Law

In São Paulo and certain other municipalities, there are advertising bans on out-of-home advertising (OOH) and the use of rooftops and building sides, cars, buses, motorcycles and bicycles (Law 14,223/2006 and Decree 47,950/2006). Advertisements in or on urban properties, despite being permitted, must follow strict regulations.

Economic Freedom Act

Law 13,874/2019 prohibits so-called abuse of regulation by the state. Article 4, applicable to advertising, aims to prevent the abuse of restrictions on advertising in any economic sector, except in cases expressly regulated by federal law.

Brazilian Advertising Self-Regulation Council (CONAR)

The Brazilian Advertising Self-Regulation Code (Código Brasileiro de Autorregulamentação Publicitária; CBAP), drafted and applied by the Brazilian Advertising Self-Regulation Council (Conselho Nacional de Auto‑Regulamentação Publicitária; CONAR), details advertising limits for the different economic sectors.

In 2021, CONAR issued the Digital Influencer Advertising Guidelines (the “Guidelines”), which contain instructions on the application of the rules of the CBAP to commercial content on social media platforms, in particular content generated by digital influencers. A second edition of the Guidelines was released in 2026.

CONAR also launched good practice guidelines for online advertising aimed at children and issued a few technical notes on:

• proposed warnings for the use of filters in advertisements;
• the advertising of products and services making reference to COVID-19; and
• true representation of promotions on packaging and point-of-sale materials.

In Brazil, advertising supervision may be performed either by federal, state or local administrative bodies (CDC Articles 55 and 82 and Decree 2,181/97).

The National Consumer Secretariat (Secretaria Nacional do Consumidor; SENACON), subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, is the federal administrative body that co-ordinates the National Consumer Protection System (Sistema Nacional de Defesa do Consumidor; SNDC). However, it does not have hierarchical authority over state or local agencies (PROCONs), which are responsible for consumer protection and have administrative sanctioning authority.

SENACON may issue ordinances and rules concerning CDC enforcement, including in relation to advertising, although advertising regulation through a rule other than one provided for in federal law is always controversial (Article 220(3) and (4) of the Federal Constitution). SENACON can also apply injunctive measures and impose fines of up to BRL15 million.

In the civil sphere, the Federal and State Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office and the legally constituted and authorised consumer protection associations are also empowered to enforce the CDC (Article 82), and, by filing public interest civil actions, may seek to redress moral and material damages caused by deceptive or abusive advertising aimed at a community of consumers.

Finally, CONAR is the self-regulatory authority responsible for the supervision of advertising compliance under the CBAP (see 1.7 Self-Regulatory Authorities).

Not only the advertiser, but also advertising agencies, communication vehicles and celebrities, can be held liable for deceptive advertising.

Initially, case law held that only the advertiser was directly liable for the messages (Articles 36 and 38 of the CDC, which provide that the advertiser has the burden of proof in demonstrating the truthfulness and accuracy of the advertising message). This understanding was confirmed by the Superior Court of Justice (Superior Tribunal de Justiça; STJ) in the Special Appeal (Recurso Especial; REsp – 604.172). However, more recently, advertising agencies have been sued along with the advertiser (REsp 1.676.750). There is also an interpretation that argues that all agents in the chain must be liable (Article 7 and Article 25(1) of the CDC).

This understanding is in line with CONAR rules, which, despite merely constituting a code of ethics, circumscribe and guide the advertising market (Article 45(b), CBAP).

Regarding individuals, punishment will be personalised in the case of a criminal offence; Articles 67–69 of the CDC establish the necessary requirements for advertising to be deemed misleading and/or abusive.

Misleading Offer

The advertising agency should not be held liable for misleading offers since it is not liable for defective products or services, nor can it be compelled to meet the offer made to the consumer or even deliver an equivalent product.

Communication Vehicles

The media cannot control the overall message or accurately examine technical and scientific data. In principle, the liability of communication vehicles is not strict, although they may ultimately be liable if there is wilful intent or gross negligence.

Celebrities/Influencers

Celebrities lend their image, voice and prestige to promote advertisers’ products. They do not participate in the advertising creative process, so, as a rule, receive the advertiser’s pre-prepared text, for which they cannot be held strictly liable. Furthermore, celebrities (and currently also influencers) are considered independent contractors who can only be held liable upon the production of evidence of wilful intent or gross negligence (Article 14(4) of the CDC). An exception to this rule occurs when the influencer takes on the role of advertiser (as the owner of his/her own brand), objectively taking responsibility for its advertising initiatives.

Self-Regulation

All parties participating in the creative advertising process can be held liable at the level of industry self-regulation, receiving CONAR guidance according to their liability.

What is considered advertising in Brazil is extremely broad in scope, covering all forms of media including sales promotions, packages, point-of-sale materials, free samples in retail settings, labelling and slogans, sponsored messages on blogs, social media and product placement.

In principle, Brazilian legislation does not require pre-approvals from the government or other authorities before running advertising. However, for products regulated by a health authority, the use of efficacy claims is subject to notification and, in some cases, only claims pre-approved by the authority may be used on submission of a prior study that substantiates such claims (see 10.1 Regulated Products).

Copyright Law (Law 9,610/1998)

Music, drawings, photographs and graphical effects may only be used in advertising with the prior and express authorisation of the author to use their work (Articles 28 and 29), except in cases where the work is in the public domain (70 years from 1 January of the year following the author’s death – Article 41), is from deceased authors who have not left successors or is that of an unknown author (Article 45).

Graphics – ie, fonts used for text messages applied in advertising communications – are also protected by copyright law, since they are considered as “software” or computer programmes.

Trade Marks

Under Law 9,279/96, a competitor’s brand cannot be used in advertising (Article 130, III). The exception is comparative advertising focusing on a specific attribute of the compared product or service (see 4. Comparative Advertising and Ambush Marketing).

CONAR specifies the need to respect copyrights and also protects creativity and originality, disapproving of any advertisement based on plagiarism or imitation (Articles 38, 39 and 41).

CONAR is responsible for the supervision of advertising compliance under the CBAP. Self-regulatory rules, despite not being enforceable as law, bind all CONAR signatories, besides serving as a subsidiary source of law for judicial and administrative cases. The decision on the merits is rendered, on average, within 60 days, with the possibility of a preliminary injunction being granted – which must be complied with immediately by vehicles and advertisers.

Proceedings and Processing

Proceedings can be initiated either on CONAR’s own initiative, by its associates (advertisers, agencies and communication vehicles) or by consumer complaint. Once the representation is instituted, the case is judged by one of the Ethics Council Chambers. Regardless of the result, a so-called ordinary appeal may be filed to the Special Appeal Chamber by the parties or, in cases initiated on CONAR’s own initiative, by CONAR’s executive director.

A so-called extraordinary appeal is admitted only exceptionally, and may be filed by the losing party if (i) the decision rendered in the ordinary appeal was not unanimous (divergence) or (ii) it was based on an error resulting from procedural acts and documents.

Remedies

Should any advertisement be found in breach of CBAP rules, the Ethics Council may apply the following sanctions, cumulatively or otherwise:

• a warning to the advertiser and its agency, or even to a celebrity or influencer who has been hired;
• an amendment of, or change to, the advertisement;
• cessation of the advertising campaign and the subpoenaing of communication vehicles to discontinue display of the advert, for better enforcement of the remedy; and
• although unusual, disclosure of CONAR’s position to the public (through the media) regarding the advertiser, agency and vehicle, in the case of failure to enforce the recommended remedies and actions.

Preventive Letters

More recently, CONAR has expanded its activities to include preventive initiatives. In certain cases, arising from anonymous consumer complaints, particularly where it remains unclear whether an advertisement actually breaches the CBAP, CONAR may issue the advertiser a Preventive Letter (“Carta Preventiva”), notifying it of the complaint and inviting it to disclose any measures already taken in relation to the advertising at issue. This mechanism enables CONAR to assess the matter before deciding whether the formal commencement of a representation before its Ethics Council is warranted.

Advertising practices may be challenged by legally constituted consumer defence bodies – ie, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Programme for Consumer Protection and Defence (Programa de Proteção e Defesa do Consumidor; PROCON) and SENACON – either on behalf of society or by individual consumers.

The civil liability that arises from deceptive or abusive advertising is a strict one, being based on enterprise risk theory. However, despite being strict, the duty to repair is not automatic, and the individual consumer must prove causation between the advertisement and the alleged damage, which must be concrete (and not potential, as in collective actions).       

In the past 12 months, there have been important developments in longstanding issues and cases. Following the enactment of Law No 15,211/2025 (the “Digital ECA”, named after Brazil’s Child and Adolescent Statute, known as the ECA), the federal government issued Decree No 12,880/2026 in March 2026, further regulating the protection of children and adolescents in digital environments.

Among other provisions relevant to advertising and marketing, the Decree maintained the prohibition on profiling-based targeting of minors and the use of emotion analysis, as well as augmented/extended/virtual reality (AR/XR/VR) techniques for such advertising.

It also introduced specific rules concerning artificial intelligence: language models and chatbots directed at, or likely to be accessed by, children and adolescents must be transparent as to their synthetic nature when interacting with them. The Decree also regulated certain activities involving child influencers, requiring a duly issued judicial authorisation (“alvará”) for monetised or boosted content that habitually exploits the image or routine of a child or adolescent.

A significant legislative development on food labelling took place with the enactment of Law No 15,404, of 8 May 2026 (originating from Bill No 1,769/2019), which sets minimum cocoa-content standards for chocolate products and introduces mandatory front-of-pack disclosure. Directly relevant to the advertising sector, the law requires that all qualifying products display the statement “Contém X% de cacau” (“Contains X% of Cocoa”) prominently on the main panel of the packaging (in an area of no less than 15% of the front face), and expressly prohibits the use of images, expressions, colours or any graphic elements that could mislead consumers into perceiving a product as chocolate when it does not meet the statutory definitions for such. Non-compliance triggers sanctions under the Consumer Defence Code and sanitary legislation. The law enters into force 360 days after publication (ie, early May 2027), giving the industry a transition window to adapt packaging, labelling and advertising materials.

From a market perspective, Law No 15,404/2026 adds a sector-specific compositional-transparency layer atop ANVISA’s existing front-of-pack nutritional warnings (RDC 429/2020). ANVISA has already held a sectoral dialogue (11 August) conducted by its General Food Directorate (Gerência-Geral de Alimentos – GGALI), to present the current status of studies regarding the regulation of said Law, deepen technical issues identified and discuss the strategy and next steps for regulating the new statute. The dialogue also sought to collect stakeholder input on regulatory alternatives, available evidence and potential impacts. Topics addressed included product definitions and categories, minimum composition requirements, front-of-pack cocoa-percentage disclosure, use of other vegetable fats and dairy components, traceability and compliance verification, and reconciliation with existing sanitary regulations (notably RDC 723/2022). The outcome of this regulatory process will directly affect how chocolate and cocoa companies, and also the food industry in general, may frame marketing claims, ingredient-based positioning and comparative advertising going forward.

Regarding self-regulation, in 2026, CONAR released the second edition of its Digital Influencer Advertising Guidelines, which entered into force on 1 June 2026. The new edition clarifies and expands upon concepts developed in the original Guidelines, including the circumstances in which a material connection between an influencer and an advertiser may characterise advertising. It also contains further guidance on advertising identification, testimonials, restricted products, the participation of children and adolescents, virtual influencers and compliance and governance measures for influencer marketing campaigns.

The new edition also introduced a specific section on artificial intelligence. CONAR clarified that the CBAP and the Guidelines apply in full to advertising content regardless of the technology used to produce or distribute it, including content generated, edited or targeted using AI systems. Influencers, advertisers, agencies and other participants in the advertising chain remain responsible for the resulting content and are expected to exercise due diligence regarding the technical limitations of AI tools and the risks of distortion, ensuring, in particular, that AI-generated information, visual or audio representations, simulations, endorsements or testimonials do not mislead consumers.

Brazil has a large and diverse population and enormous cultural richness. Brazilian advertising is marked by creativity, irreverence, humour and intelligence, and it often depicts diverse aspects of society. However, Brazilian audiences have proved highly judgemental towards inclusive and affirmative advertising, which is often misunderstood as discriminatory and perceived as segregating people or encouraging prejudiced attitudes.

Issues currently under the spotlight include advertisements of “ultra-processed” and high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods, as well as advertising aimed at children – especially in digital spaces. Concerns in this regard motivated the approval and publication of the Digital ECA (Law No 15,211/2025).

The regulatory framework for fixed-odds betting established by Law No 14,790/2023 (the “Betting Law”) has been further strengthened in 2026. New rules issued by the Ministry of Finance and other federal authorities introduced stricter requirements for advertising and marketing, including mandatory warnings on the risks associated with gambling, restrictions aimed at protecting children and adolescents and measures to prevent the advertising of unauthorised betting operators. Internet platforms and other advertising intermediaries are also required to verify whether betting advertisers are duly authorised before accepting their advertisements.

Another significant development was Decree No 12,975/2026, which amended the regulation of the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Marco Civil da Internet; Law No 12,965/2014) and introduced new duties for internet application providers. Particularly relevant to advertising, platforms offering paid advertising or content-boosting tools must adopt measures to prevent the placement of unlawful content, retain information concerning advertisements and their advertisers, and may be held liable for unlawful content distributed through paid advertisements or boosts if they fail to act diligently. The Decree also requires platforms to remove deceptive, abusive or fraudulent advertising upon notification by the competent consumer protection authorities and expressly provides that content that is not clearly identifiable as advertising may be treated as deceptive advertising.

Misleading advertising is defined in Article 37(1) and (3) of the CDC as messaging that may deceive consumers as to the features of the advertised product or service (ie, its nature, quality, quantity, properties, origin, price or any other aspect), by omission or any other means (eg, ambiguity and/or inaccuracy).

The CDC defines advertising that is deceptive by way of omission as that which fails to inform consumers of “essential information” related to the advertised product or service. Essential information may refer to the terms of an offer or the conditions of – or constraints on – the enjoyment of a good or service. The deceptive potential of an advertisement must be examined and accurately measured according to the impression that it creates (or may create) on its target audience.

The regulation of deceptive advertising is not restricted to the content. Advertisements that mask their commercial nature may be declared misleading due to breach of the principle of identification (Article 36 of the CDC).

The CDC does not regulate specific claims or advertising techniques. However, all advertising must adhere to the principles of truthfulness, honesty and non-abusiveness. Moreover, certain sectors are subject to specific regulations (see 10.1 Regulated Products).

Article 36 of the CDC establishes the principle of “transparency” and requires advertisers to retain supporting factual, technical and scientific data. The scope of this legal requirement means that the burden of proof is on advertisers regarding the veracity of their claims.

The same rule is provided in Article 27(1) of the CBAP, requiring advertisers and agencies to provide factual, technical or scientific evidence regarding any comparisons or descriptions whenever requested.

Testing

Neither Brazilian law nor self-regulatory rules establish specific standards for testing advertising claims; such analysis is done on a case-by-case basis. The law only requires that comparative advertisements claiming effectiveness or differences relative to market competitors be supported by testing (prior to the campaign), and the source (eg, a survey) of the claim must be referenced in the advertisement, even if in a footnote.

CONAR has recognised, on several occasions, the validity of campaigns that use product demonstrations (“demos”) as a visually entertaining way to highlight a benefit offered by a product, as long as the highlighted benefit is duly supported and proven by clinical testing. Demos are recognised as a creative and valid resource to inform the consumer, through dramatisation, of a scientifically proven benefit, rendering technical information easy to understand for the average consumer.

Testimonials are defined by CONAR as depositions, endorsements or certifications whereby an individual or legal entity, other than the advertiser, gives an opinion or reports its own experience or observations in relation to a product (Exhibit Q of the CBAP). According to this definition, the classifications are as follows:

• the testimonial of a specialist/expert;
• the testimonial of a famous person;
• the testimonial of a lay-person or consumer; and
• a certification or endorsement issued by a legal entity reflecting its official opinion.

Testimonial messages must truly reflect the benefits proclaimed, as well as the individual’s real impressions. A testimonial does not exempt the supplier from proving the veracity of any claims made in an ad.

Self-Regulation (Exhibit U of the CBAP)

Article 36 of the CBAP and its Exhibit U, as revised in October 2025, establish specific principles applicable to environmental and socio-environmental claims, including truthfulness, qualification, accuracy, pertinence, relevance and concreteness.

Socio-environmental statements must accurately reflect the practices and/or attributes to which they refer. Broad or generic claims require robust evidence capable of supporting their full scope and must be appropriately qualified. Qualifiers must accurately clarify the scope, conditions or limitations of the advertised benefit, without contradicting the claim itself, and must be presented clearly and prominently and positioned close to the claim they qualify, so that both are understood jointly by consumers.

The CDC is also applied in cases where an environmental claim is found to be misleading – by deceiving the consumer about the real environmental impact of the advertised product – or lacks adequate support with respect to its veracity (substantiation).

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) Global Guidance on Environmental Claims, translated and published in 2022 by the Brazilian Association of Advertisers (ABA), highlights important concepts and parameters applicable to environmental claims.

An advertisement must be clearly identified as such, regardless of its type or the broadcasting medium (Article 28 of the CBAP). When the advertisement’s nature is not evident due to the context, it is necessary to include disclosures.

The CBAP states that an advertisement in newsprint, article, news, text caption or any other form published upon payment of a given amount shall be properly distinguished from editorial content (Article 30).

With respect to social media, where it is difficult to distinguish advertisements from editorial content, written disclosure is strongly recommended through the appropriate means provided by the platforms, and also by the user through the use of hashtags (#advertising, #paid partnership, etc) – before the “more” button (see more in 5.3 Disclosure Requirements).

HFSS Food Labelling

Brazilian legislation regulates claims on food labelling in a specific manner. Collegiate Board Resolution (Resolução da Diretoria Colegiada (RDC)) 429/20 and Normative Instruction (Instrução Normativa (IN)) 75/20 introduced new rules for the front-of-package (FOP) nutritional labelling of packaged foods, and for nutritional claims. It is currently mandatory to use FOP labelling for foods with high levels of added sugar, saturated fat and sodium, in accordance with the criteria established in Article 18 et seq of RDC 429/20 and Annex XV of IN 75/20, through the use of a specific image to communicate high content of such nutrients.

More recently, in August 2026, ANVISA approved the opening of a new regulatory proceeding, including a new Regulatory Impact Assessment (AIR), to review the regulation of food advertising and update the provisions of RDC 24/2010. The validity of RDC 24/2010, which regulates the advertising and commercial promotion of certain foods considered high in sugar, saturated fat, trans fat or sodium, is currently under review by the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal; STF) in ADI 7788.

Nutritional Claims

The criteria defined in legislation (RDC 429/20 and Annexes XIX–XXI of IN 75/20) must be adhered to when communicating about high or low nutrient content and/or energy (“source”, “rich in”, “high content”, “low”, “very low”, “does not contain”, “no added”, “zero”, etc), and when making comparative nutritional claims, etc.

A related market trend concerns the increasing prominence of protein-content claims on food labels – including the total amount of protein present in the product and/or the addition of ingredients intended to boost overall protein content (eg, collagen) – which lend a strong health-and-wellness appeal to the product. Both ANVISA and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária – MAPA) have stepped up enforcement actions against such products and their advertising, in order to verify whether they genuinely meet the regulatory requirements for the advertised attributes.

The health surveillance legislation also contains principles-based rules, established mainly in RDC 727/22, which restrict communication regarding food additives, in addition to other communications that, although not expressly regulated, can be monitored by health surveillance bodies and/or consumer protection agencies in terms of veracity and the possibility of misleading consumers regarding the real nature, composition, origin, type, quality, quantity, validity, food yield/portions or uses of a food.

Geographical Origin

Geographical origin-related restrictions are established by RDC 727/22, and by the Industrial Property Law (Law 9,279/1995).

Claims With Health Appeal

Although Brazil does not have specific regulations for generic claims, there are several restrictions pertaining to the correctness and veracity of the expression of such claims, as the authorities understand that generic claims lacking support are liable to mislead consumers.

Regarding food for which functional properties are claimed, please see 10.1 Regulated Products. Regarding environmental claims, please see 2.6 Environmental Claims.

There are no specific rules in Brazil addressing stereotypes, inclusion, diversity and equity in advertising. However, the Brazilian Federal Constitution (Article 5) and the CDC (Law 8,078/1990, Article 37, Section 2) prohibit any type of discrimination.

In the same vein, CONAR provides that no advertisement shall encourage or stimulate any type of offence related to racial, social, political, religious or national discrimination (Articles 20 and 37(1)(b)), and that advertisements shall be created within the scope of the Brazilian social and cultural context (Article 27, Section 6(c) of the CBAP).

Children are defined by the Child and Adolescent Statute (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente; ECA) as people up to 12 years old. Marketing to children is regulated in Brazil by Article 37(2) of the CDC, which establishes that advertising that takes advantage of children’s less developed judgment and limited experience is abusive. Despite the CDC prohibiting only abusive advertising, decisions have been rendered by the STJ against “gift-with-purchase” promotions that grant gifts in the food sector.

Brazil’s National Congress recently approved the Digital ECA, as noted in 1.9 Regulatory and Legal Trends. Concerning advertising, the Law imposes an outright ban on profiling-based targeting of minors and the use of emotion analysis, as well as AR/XR/VR techniques, for that purpose.

Regarding self-regulation, CONAR provides a detailed list of rules to ensure that messages aimed at children are appropriate and respect their status as “developing persons”. Besides dedicating a specific section of its Code (Article 37, et seq, of the CBAP) to children and teenagers, Annex H of CONAR also provides several rules concerning the marketing of food to children.

Moreover, CONAR’s Guidelines hold that advertisements must consider the target audience. The Self-Regulation Guidelines introduce a specific rule stating that messages must be identifiable and distinct from the rest of the content (Item 1.1); simply using hashtags (#) is not sufficient. For effective “material disclosure” in advertisements featuring audio and video elements, it is recommended that both written and verbal forms be used for identifying the advertising, as these are more easily noticed by children.

There is no special law, regulation or guide that deals with dark patterns in advertising in Brazil. However, CONAR has already judged several cases involving the use of dark patterns in advertising, prohibiting advertisements based on misleading messages that could manipulate consumers. Such cases are also addressed by the CDC, which prohibits any type of abusiveness or exploitation of a consumer’s lack of experience.

There are no specific rules for sponsor ID and branded content. Therefore, the general principle of advertising identification is applied: if a commercial element and brand are involved, their relation must be clear to consumers.

In Brazil, all advertising content must be identified as such. Native advertising (ie, advertising that resembles editorial content) must follow overall CDC and CONAR rules and principles, and cannot hide its commercial nature, on pain of being declared deceptive on the basis of its presentation format (hidden advertising).

CONAR’s Guidelines reinforce the principle of identification provided for in the CDC and in self-regulation law.

General Requirements of Comparative Advertising

The CDC does not expressly mention comparative advertising, and this advertising technique is not prohibited. CONAR, however, has opted to expressly regulate comparative advertising, recognising it as customary market practice (Article 32 of the CBAP).

Comparative advertising should be used only in relation to goods and services of the same type or nature. CONAR further reinforces that the main purpose of comparative advertising should be to provide consumers with information. Therefore, any comparison should be based only on objective and provable data, and must rest on one or more fundamental elements of the comparative product or service, thus increasing the information available to the consumer.

All comparative advertising must be supported by technical data and satisfy the following criteria:

• always objective and verifiable;
• not aimed at causing confusion with respect to distinguishing between brands;
• not disparaging towards a competing product or brand; and
• not taking undue advantage of another company’s brand (parasitism).

As long as a comparison is true, objective and verifiable with respect to one or more essential elements of a product or service, expressly identifying the competing brand in the advertisement is authorised. The direct comparative campaign run by Rayovac can be highlighted here; it accentuated Rayovac batteries’ purported superior durability and lower price than those of Duracell, which was regarded by the STJ as being in consumers’ interests (REsp 1.668.550). CONAR has also ruled – in several cases of direct comparative advertising – that proof and substantiation are needed for comparative claims.

Comparative advertising, however, cannot “depreciate” a competitor’s brand or image – as occurs, for example, when an advertiser alludes to personal circumstances of a competitor that are unrelated to the compared products or services, or uses offensive expressions or images.

Competitors may challenge the content of comparative advertising before both CONAR and the courts – in the latter case by filing unfair competition lawsuits (Law 9,279/96). Remedies regularly claimed include cessation of the advertising and claims for damages – both moral and material – for trade mark infringement.

One of the most recent leading cases in the Brazilian food industry concerns misleading and comparative advertising displayed at one of the world’s largest processed food fairs, where the discussion has expanded to digital media. The advertisement in question compared the new Heinz mayonnaise to the market leader (Hellmann’s, owned by Unilever), alleging a superior production process (“100% cold process”) that would yield a “fresher and creamier” product (compared to other processed mayonnaises). The lawsuit is based on Heinz’s failure to substantiate the alleged superiority and demonstrate that the 100% cold process would provide a fresher and creamier mayonnaise.

The first law that addressed ambush marketing in Brazil was the General World Cup Law (Law 12,663/2012), created specifically to regulate major International Federation of Association Football (Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)) sporting events that took place in Brazil between 2013 and 2014. This Law provided for the practice of ambush marketing by association or intrusion. However, following the conclusion of the events, such provisions are no longer in force.

This topic, however, has already been addressed within the scope of CONAR’s self-regulation, through Article 31 of the CBAP, which prohibits undue and illegitimate advertising profits obtained through means of “ride” and/or “ambush” – ie, through invasion of the editorial or commercial space of a communication vehicle.

CONAR treats the issue of ambush marketing broadly, protecting sponsors of all major events and not just those of sporting events – see Representations 73/24 (Lollapalooza Music Festival), 33/23 (Carnaval), 247/22 (FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022) and 191/23 (alluding to sponsored soccer teams).

Further, the General Sports Law (Law 14,597/2023) also presents a definition of ambush marketing by association or intrusion (Articles 170 and 171) and reproduces the rule already introduced by CONAR (Article 160, Section 5º). This Law, however, focuses on the sports sector, being applied by analogy and associated with self-regulation in other sectors (concerts, parties, music festivals, etc).

The same CDC and CBAP principles are applicable to both traditional and digital media, including (i) identification of the advertising message as such by consumers; (ii) veracity; and (iii) the requirement for messages to respect constitutional social values and their target audience.

In 2026, CONAR issued the second edition of its Digital Influencer Advertising Guidelines. The new edition updates and expands the original Guidelines, providing further guidance on, among other matters, advertising identification and transparency, material connections between advertisers and influencers, affiliate marketing, restricted products, the protection of children and adolescents, virtual influencers, the use of artificial intelligence and compliance and governance measures for influencer marketing campaigns.

Social media platforms are also subject to the new framework introduced by the Digital ECA (Law No 15,211/2025), which came into force in March 2026 and established specific obligations for digital services accessed by children and adolescents, including rules on age assurance, parental supervision, safety by design and commercial advertising. The Brazilian Data Protection Authority (Agência Nacional de Proteção de Dados; ANPD) was designated as the main authority responsible for overseeing and enforcing compliance with the Digital ECA and, in this context, was elevated to the status of a regulatory agency. The ANPD has since been working on the implementation of the new framework, including through regulatory initiatives and public consultations concerning digital service providers’ obligations and reliable age-assurance mechanisms. The National Secretariat for Digital Rights (Secretaria Nacional de Direitos Digitais; SEDIGI) of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security has also played an important role in the implementation of the Digital ECA, particularly through policy development, technical studies and institutional coordination concerning the application of the new rules to digital platforms.

The advertiser’s liability for content posted by third parties on their brand website or a social network depends on the relationship established between them. According to CONAR’s Guidelines and precedents, not only payment, but also a commercial relationship, characterise paid advertising.

Whenever there is a commercial relation or paid advertising, the advertiser is, directly or indirectly, liable for the posted content.

CONAR also establishes that if a company shares or makes use of organic content from a third party (ie, spontaneously created content) that mentions its brand or product, this new content – be it endorsed, shared or adapted by the company – becomes new content of an advertising nature and must therefore comply with the rules of the CBAP. It is noteworthy that companies cannot share or endorse irregular organic content, even if it is neither contracted nor solicited.

The major problem, from a legal standpoint, remains those cases where there is no relationship between the brand and influencer, but where the content – which was never shared by the brand – ends up being erroneously considered as an advertisement, and the brand is held liable (as if it were the advertiser) for spontaneous content for which a third party bears exclusive responsibility.

More recently, sector-specific rules have expressly addressed the responsibility of third parties involved in the advertising of fixed-odds betting. Ordinance SPA/MF No 1,231/2024 defines an “affiliate” as an individual or legal entity that advertises for a betting operator in exchange for compensation, including non-financial compensation, linked to performance, such as the number of bettors acquired or the amounts deposited or spent. Digital influencers may therefore qualify as affiliates depending on the nature of their commercial arrangement with the operator.

Under the same Ordinance, betting operators are jointly liable for communication, advertising and marketing activities carried out by their affiliates, while both operators and affiliates must comply with the applicable statutory and regulatory advertising requirements and may be subject to the penalties provided for under the Betting Law and the Consumer Defence Code. The Ordinance further treats advertising carried out by affiliates as part of the operator’s own advertising activities and requires operators to ensure their affiliates’ compliance with legal, regulatory and self-regulatory rules.

The regulatory framework was further strengthened in 2026 by Interministerial Ordinance MF/SECOM/MJSP No 73/2026, which applies more broadly to any individual or legal entity that produces, promotes, sponsors, disseminates, transmits, distributes, boosts or otherwise places betting advertising or marketing. This framework therefore expressly reaches digital influencers and other third parties involved in the dissemination of betting advertising, who may themselves be held accountable for non-compliant content. In August 2026, CONAR also reinforced the responsibilities of influencers and affiliates in the betting sector through an updated version of Exhibit X of the CBAP.

In social media, whenever the commercial nature of the content is not evident from the context, advertising must be expressly identified as such. CONAR’s 2026 Guidelines recommend, whenever possible, the use of the disclosure tools made available by the relevant platform (eg, collaborative posts). Alternatively, influencers may use clear expressions such as #publi or #publicidade, or another equivalent term that is readily understandable by the relevant audience.

The disclosure must be prominent and immediately visible, preferably on the first screen of the advertisement, without requiring the user to click on a “more content” button, scroll or otherwise search for additional information. For image-based content, the disclosure should appear close to the advertising content itself; for temporary content, such as stories, it should remain visible while the content is displayed. In sequential posts, CONAR recommends that the disclosure appear in the first image. For video content, disclosure may be made through text and/or audio, depending on the context and format of the communication.

CONAR’s Guidelines also clarify that terms like #ad, #adv, #advertisement and #embaixador/ambassador should be used with caution, taking into account whether they are sufficiently clear and understandable to the audience, especially where foreign-language expressions are used. For activation messages involving gifts, invitations, experiences or similar benefits, the Guidelines recommend expressions such as #recebido [trip/show/event], #conviteDeMarca (“invited by the brand”), thanks to [brand] for [product, trip, invitation] and #DesafioDeMarca (“brand challenge”).

For children, as indicated in 3.2 Children, there must be a more robust disclosure, preferably in written and oral form.

Law 12,965/2014 (the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet) provided general rules for social media platforms concerned with keeping connection records and removing improperly labelled content of third parties. In detail, the internet application provider must:

• keep confidential records of connections to internet applications in a secure environment for a period of six months; and
• be held civilly liable for third-party content only in cases of non-compliance with a court order to remove content identified as infringing on rights.

Besides this regulation, the General Data Protection Law (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados; LGPD) is applicable to social media platforms, without prejudice to the applicability of the CDC or of the criminal law against libel and torts in connection with defamatory or slanderous messages and “fake news”.

In addition, the Supreme Court issued a thesis (in the context of Issues (Temas) 533 and 987 of general repercussion) in July 2025 defining the responsibility of social media platforms for content, which was not previously set forth in Law 12,965/2014. The thesis increases the accountability of social media platforms – through transparency measures – to improve dialogue and responsiveness to demands from civil society and Brazilian authorities, such as to remove irregular content through the simple “notice and take down” procedure, which was not applied previously.

In May 2026, Decree No 12,975/2026 amended Decree No 8,771/2016, which regulates the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, and introduced more detailed duties for internet application providers. Among other obligations, providers must maintain a legal representative in Brazil, provide an accessible reporting channel for unlawful or criminal content, adopt measures to prevent artificial networks for the distribution of unlawful content, and monitor and manage systemic risks associated with their services.

The Decree also introduced specific provisions concerning paid advertisements and content boosting. Providers that offer paid advertising or boosting tools must adopt appropriate measures to prevent the placement of criminal or unlawful content. Where unlawful content is distributed through paid advertisements, paid boosting or artificial content-distribution networks, the provider’s liability is presumed regardless of prior notification, although such presumption may be rebutted if the provider demonstrates that it acted diligently and within a reasonable period to make the content unavailable.

Platforms offering paid advertising or boosting must also retain information relating to each advertisement or boosted content and its respective advertiser for one year following the end of its display.

Particularly relevant to advertising regulation, providers must remove third-party content constituting deceptive, abusive or fraudulent advertising upon notification by the competent consumer protection authorities or, in certain cases, the Federal Attorney General’s Office. For these purposes, content that is not clearly identifiable by users as advertising is expressly deemed deceptive advertising.

No specific rule is applicable to email marketing. However, general consumer protection rules that prohibit abusive marketing are applicable (Articles 6(IV) and 39(IV) of the CDC).

Thus, email addresses may only be collected for marketing purposes with the consumer’s explicit consent, and consumers must be provided with an opt-out option. Furthermore, consumer addresses cannot be shared with third parties without prior consent. The liability for any violations under the current rules follows the overall civil and consumer liability regime. The criteria for personal data use and processing, as well as the liability regime for unlawful acts, will be strengthened by the LGPD.

Self-Regulation

In 2019, telecommunications companies, jointly with the National Telecommunications Agency (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações; ANATEL, the regulatory agency), launched the Não Me Perturbe (“Don’t Disturb Me”) subscription platform, which allows consumers (via a website) to exclude their number from land and mobile telephony, TV and internet service providers’ databases – an initiative to tackle abusive marketing and provide opt-out options.

Specific Laws

At the federal level, ANATEL Resolution 632/2014 (later on revoked by ANATEL Resolution 765/2023, as explained below) established that consumers of telephone, paid TV and internet services are entitled not to receive advertising messages on their mobile platforms in the absence of prior, free and express consent.

In 2023, ANATEL published the New General Regulation on Consumer Rights for Telecommunications Services (Resolution 765/2023, effective from September 2025), which in addition to the above-mentioned rule, classifies as “irregular use of telecommunications” massive call volumes (ie, those exceeding human capacity), calls with no intention of effectively communicating and calls that make it difficult to identify the caller, among other types of calls. Infractions of these rules will subject offenders to the administrative sanctions of Law 9,472/1997, as well as to ANATEL’s Administrative Sanctions Application Regulation.

At the state level, several laws provide for telephone number registration (often managed by state PROCONs) to block product or service telemarketing calls.

Finally, the LGPD provides for specific obligations regarding consent, conditions for data processing and liability resulting from data processing failures, which will significantly increase in future.

Text messages are governed by the CDC principle that prohibits abusive marketing aimed at consumers (Articles 6(IV) and 39(IV) of the CDC).

ANATEL Resolution 765/2023 establishes that consumers of telephone, cable TV and internet services are entitled to not receive advertising messages on their mobile platforms in the absence of prior, free and express consent. Moreover, several initiatives at the state level (in Paraná, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, etc) take into account opt-out registrations – ie, consumers who no longer wish to receive active telemarketing calls and/or messages can opt out therefrom, whereas those who are interested in receiving such communications (where it could be in their best interest, having had a previous relationship with a given brand or company) may continue to receive them. There will be penalties only for those companies that disregard the expressed wishes of the consumer. Finally, upon the LGPD coming into force, further discussions will arise about consent and the supplier’s lawful interest in data collection and processing.

General rules, both in the CDC and in the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, are applicable to the consent needed for personal data collection, storage and transfer (Article 7(IX), Law 12,968/2014), and the LGPD also reinforced the need for consent for data collection and processing. Accordingly, only the data subject – if they so wish and when expressly and unequivocally asked – can authorise their information to be used by companies and public bodies offering products and services, whether free or otherwise. However, consent is not the only basis that could enable a company to use personal data for advertising purposes: companies may also rely on legitimate interest, provided for in Articles 7(IX) and 10 of the LGPD (where it could be in the legitimate interest of the data subject to receive certain advertisements, for instance from companies and/or brands with which it had a prior relationship). When considering using legitimate interest as a legal basis for processing personal data, it is essential that the company performs a legitimate interests assessment (LIA), through which it will be able to assess whether or not it is possible to invoke legitimate interest in the case in question.

One important development is the Digital ECA, enacted as Law No 15,211/2025 and currently in force. With respect to advertising, the Law imposes an outright ban on profiling-based targeting of children and adolescents and on the use of emotion analysis, as well as augmented, extended and virtual reality (AR/XR/VR) techniques, for that purpose.

Collection or Use of Personal Information From Children

The LGPD (Law 13,709/2018) provides a specific section (Article 14) pertaining to how children’s personal data should be treated, considering their best interests and with the specific and highlighted consent of at least one parent or legal guardian (Paragraph 1). For the purposes of this Law, information concerning an identified or identifiable natural person is considered personal data (Article 5(I)).

Under the principles of child protection, children’s data should not be collected without parental consent, let alone to target them via media “that interests them” or is based on their “browsing habits”.

Also, as noted in 6.4 Targeted/Interest-Based Advertising, the Digital ECA (Law No 15,211/2025), in force since March 2026, introduced additional restrictions on the use of children’s and adolescents’ data for advertising purposes, especially profiling-based targeting.

Liability for Violation of the Rules

Articles 56 and 57 of the CDC provide for penalties that may be applied in case of violation of the foregoing rules, notably including a fine of up to BRL13 million.

The penalty provided for in the LGPD is a fine amounting to 2% of the relevant company’s turnover (limited to BRL50 million). Furthermore, among other sanctions, the law also states that any infringement may be subject to publication after its assessment and verification.

Apart from the general rules for consumer protection set forth in the CDC, the LGPD and the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, the Brazilian Federal Constitution also provides for the general right to privacy (thus not limited to advertising), ensuring the right to compensation for material or moral damage resulting from its violation (Article 5(X)).

In addition, CONANDA Resolution No 245/2024 establishes principles for the protection of children’s and adolescents’ rights in digital environments, including their privacy and personal data, and requires public authorities and private-sector entities, including digital platforms, to take appropriate measures to safeguard such rights.

Under Law 5,768/71 and Decree 70,951/72, any plan for the free distribution of prizes as a form of advertising that involves luck must be submitted for prior approval of the competent government agency. Currently, this approval is centralised in the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas; SPA) of the Ministry of Finance.

Several types of commercial promotion are subject to registration, including:

• raffles where the consumer meets a certain requirement (eg, the purchase of products), receives a “lucky number” (which is randomly, equitably and concurrently assigned) and can win as per the results of the federal lottery;
• contests where the winner is defined based on performance (eg, submitting the “best” photo/video) and competitions of any nature (eg, where the winner is the first person to buy a particular product); and
• gift certificates where the reward is instantaneous.

Ordinance 7,638/2022, issued by the Secretariat for Economic Monitoring (Secretaria de Acompanhamento Econômico; SEAE), provided additional rules on the free distribution of prizes for advertising purposes through a draw, gift certificate, contest or similar modality, as referred to in Law 5,768/1971 and Decree 70,951/1972.

More recently, Ordinance SPA/MF 1,818/2026, published on 29 June 2026, established a comprehensive sanctioning regime, and set out the procedural framework for the execution of consent decrees (termos de compromisso) in connection with the free distribution of prizes and the early collection of popular savings (captação antecipada de poupança popular) under Law 5,768/1971 and Decree 70,951/1972. Under the new rules, the following conduct constitutes an administrative infraction: (i) carrying out promotional operations without the prior authorisation of the Ministry of Finance; and (ii) failing to comply with the approved prize distribution plan or misrepresenting the purpose of the promotional operations. Sanctions include revocation of the authorisation, a prohibition on conducting new operations for up to two years, placement under a special supervisory regime, fines of up to 100% of the amounts received or receivable under the contract, and formal warnings. Consent decrees may be entered into at any stage of the administrative proceedings.

Brazilian laws distinguish between contests of skill and games of chance. Whenever luck is involved, the company must secure prior authorisation. An exception to this rule is the exclusively cultural, artistic, sporting or recreational contest, insofar as it does not involve any type of risk, require payment from competitors/participants or bind such competitors/participants (or the winners) to the acquisition or use of any good, right or service. Such contests are intended only to reward artistic or sporting talent – or simply to serve as leisure activities with no commercial connotations.

Promotions that involve luck (raffles, gift certificates, contests or similar schemes) must be authorised a priori by the SPA. There are extensive mandatory documentation and accountability requirements. In brief:

• authorisation must be procured online at least 120 days before the promotion starts;
• an inspection fee must be collected, the amount of which varies according to the value of the promotional prizes;
• after the commercial promotion ends, the company must report to the SPA within 30 days after delivering all prizes or collecting the amount corresponding to prizes that were not delivered, if applicable; and
• once the accountability report is approved, the procedure is shelved.

Free offers like “buy one, get one free” are covered in Informative Note 11/2018, which establishes the basis under which prior registration of the promotion is mandatory.

The CDC (Article 39(III)) establishes that sending or delivering products, or providing services, to consumers without prior consent is an abusive practice. Consequently, even if a contractual relationship has already been established for the continuous supply of products or services (for a fee), to avoid allegations of abusive practice and related penalties, the prior and express consent of the consumer should be procured for the renewal.

Except for a regulation on electoral advertisements (Resolution 23,610/2019 of the Superior Electoral Court, which provides for restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in such advertisements), there is no legislation in Brazil that specifically regulates the use of AI, either in general or specifically in connection with the development of advertising content. Moreover, there are bills currently under discussion aimed at regulating AI in Brazil, such as Bill 2338/2023, which proposes general rules for the development, implementation and use of AI systems in Brazil, and Bill 4/25, currently before the Senate, which aims to modify the Civil Code in relation to several subjects, including AI.

It is worth highlighting the following self-regulation initiatives.

• In August 2023, CONAR took on its first prominent case involving AI – a complaint against an advertising campaign by Volkswagen that featured an AI-generated likeness of the famous singer Elis Regina, who died in the 1980s, singing a song with her daughter. CONAR concluded that there was no obligation to include information to clarify that the content of the advertisement had been generated by AI, considering the use of AI to be self-evident in this case; thus, it closed the proceeding without penalties.
• In the last three years, CONAR heard several cases involving AI, particularly regarding the fraudulent use of deepfakes and misleading advertising.
• Advertisements that used stereotypical AI-generated images (which reinforced ableism) or could lead to social washing were found non-compliant.
• CONAR also heard cases involving programmatic advertising failures, where advertisements were targeted at an audience over 18 years of age, as well as cases of restricted advertising where the AI failed in its targeting efforts.
• Finally, in 2026, CONAR’s second edition of the Digital Influencer Advertising Guidelines expressly extended the CBAP to advertising content generated, edited or targeted using AI. Although no general AI disclosure requirement was introduced, the Guidelines recommend due diligence regarding technical limitations and risks of distortion, to ensure that AI-generated content does not mislead consumers (see more in 1.9 Regulatory and Legal Trends).

There are currently no specific rules in Brazil governing claims that a product or service was developed using AI, is powered by AI or has AI-related capabilities. Such claims are nevertheless subject to the general principles of truthfulness and substantiation under the CDC and the CBAP.

Decree No 12,880/2026, which regulates the Digital ECA, introduced specific rules for language models, conversational agents and similar interfaces directed at, or likely to be accessed by, children and adolescents. These systems must be transparent about their synthetic and automated nature, prevent behavioural manipulation and implement safeguards for children’s and adolescents’ physical, mental and psychosocial development. The ANPD is responsible for further regulating and supervising compliance with those requirements.

Since 22 December 2022, Law 14,478/2022 (the Legal Framework for Crypto Assets) has been in force in Brazil, setting forth guidelines to be observed in relation to the provision of virtual asset services and the regulation of virtual asset service providers. It establishes that the provision of virtual asset services must comply with certain principles, such as the protection and defence of consumers and users (Article 4(IV)), and that the provisions of the CDC apply to transactions conducted on virtual assets markets – which means that the CDC could also be applied to advertisements in the crypto-asset market.

As yet, there are no special laws or regulations in Brazil on advertising within the metaverse. However, there is some general legislation that must be adhered to concerning several aspects of the metaverse, especially Law 13,709/2018 (the LGPD); this law is relevant to the metaverse given the possibility of collecting users’ personal data. In addition, Law 12,965/2014 (the Internet Civil Framework) provides for the freedom of expression of users, the right to privacy and network neutrality. A bill before the National Congress (Bill 2,175/2023), which proposes a regulatory framework for the metaverse, remains at an early stage of discussion.

In practice, CONAR has been applying the same principles as in the CBAP, namely the transparency of information and non-abusiveness of the message. CONAR has ruled on cases involving advergames in the metaverse directed mainly at children, requiring modifications to such games on the grounds that they made an excessive appeal to consumption.

Alcohol

A distinction is made between drinks with a high alcohol content (>13 Gay-Lussac (°GL); eg, spirits, vodka, gin, whiskey and rum) and drinks with a low alcohol content (≤13°GL; eg, beers, wines and ices).

Drinks with low alcohol content

Products under Exhibit P (beers and wines) and Exhibit T (ices and similar beverages) of the CBAP are subject to Brazilian self-regulation. CONAR regulates the advertising of these products, establishing the need to include a warning clause (eg, pertaining to avoiding excess consumption and the prohibition of use for those under 18), ensure the protection of children and adolescents, and follow the principle of responsible consumption.

Drinks with high alcohol content

The basic obligations for high-alcohol-content drinks are the same as those for low-alcohol-content drinks, albeit with additional restrictions on the former provided for in Law 9,294/1996 (the “Murad Law”), which sets forth restrictions on the broadcasting hours of advertisements thereof (prohibited between 6am and 9pm). Exhibit A of the CBAP reinforces and complements the restrictions provided for in the Murad Law.

Tobacco

The Murad Law prohibits the advertising of cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, pipes or any other smoking products, regardless of whether they are derived from tobacco, with the sole exception of the display of said products in sales outlets if accompanied by the previously established warning clauses (Article 3). Exhibit J of the CBAP reinforces the restrictions provided by the Murad Law.

Vaping/Electronic Smoking Devices

The commercialisation, manufacture and advertising of these devices are prohibited by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA)). Nevertheless, the regulation of electronic smoking devices (“vapes”) is a hot topic in Brazil and has been widely discussed since the presentation of Bill 5,008/2023, which intends to authorise the consumption, production, commercialisation, export and import of these devices as well as to regulate the control, inspection and advertising of vapes.

Cannabis

ANVISA RDC 327/2019 prohibits any advertising of cannabis products. The display for sale in Brazil of such products, such as via advertisements on internet sites, is also prohibited.

Drugs

RDC 96/2008 of ANVISA regulates advertising and other practices for which the objective is the dissemination or commercial promotion of medicines. The resolution establishes that only the advertising of medicines regulated by ANVISA under the terms of Law 6,360/1976 is permitted (Article 3). For the general public, advertising is only permitted for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Medicines that require a medical prescription can only be advertised to healthcare professionals (doctors/dentists or pharmacists).

Self-regulation also brings specific rules for the advertising of medicines, provided for in Exhibit I (OTC pharmaceutical products) of the CBAP.

Food With Functional Property Claims

Under Decree-Law 986/69, Resolutions 18/99 and 19/99, and RDC 727/22 of ANVISA, a food can be considered to possess a functional property if it has a metabolic or physiological role, whether nutrient- or non-nutrient-related, in the growth, development, maintenance and other normal functions of the human body (eg, foods containing probiotics; prebiotics; dietary fibres or oligosaccharides; antioxidants; vitamins A (carotenoids), C (ascorbic acid) or E (tocopherol); flavonoids; phenolic acids; or fatty acids including omega 3, omega 6 and conjugated linoleic acid).

Functional claims for these foods can only be made if they have already been authorised by ANVISA, and only in exactly the same terms. If the supplier wishes to communicate about functional properties that are not already approved, they must request pre-authorisation from ANVISA.

Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

Brazilian health surveillance legislation regulates advertising claims for vitamin and mineral supplements, which must be fully recognised and authorised in advance by ANVISA pursuant to RDC 243/2018 (which revoked Ordinance 32/1998).

Medical Devices

Advertising of medical devices may be carried out, with restrictions, under the terms of RDC 751/2022 of ANVISA.

Products for Early Childhood

The Brazilian Standard for the Marketing of Food for Infants and Toddlers, Nipples, Pacifiers and Bottles (Norma Brasileira de Comercialização de Alimentos para Lactentes e Crianças de Primeira Infância, Bicos, Chupetas e Mamadeiras; NBCAL) is a set of standards that regulates the commercial promotion and labelling of foods and products intended for newborns, infants and children up to three years of age. Its objective is to ensure the appropriate use of these products so that there is no interference in the practice of breastfeeding, subject to penalties under Law 6,347/77 and the CDC.

The insertion of a product or brand in entertainment content (product placement) is a permitted advertising practice in Brazil if it is made clear – whether at the beginning or end of the transmission, videoclip or game – that the content constitutes advertising.

Betting

Law 14,790/2023 (the new sports betting law) regulates fixed-odds betting, including its advertising and marketing. Ordinance SPA/MF No 1,231/2024 further regulates advertising practices and expressly addresses affiliates, while Interministerial Ordinance MF/SECOM/MJSP No 73/2026 strengthened consumer protection requirements, including mandatory warnings, restrictions on advertising aimed at children and adolescents, prior verification that advertised operators are duly authorised, and broader responsibility for agents involved in disseminating betting advertising, including influencers.

Self-regulation is also particularly active in this sector. In August 2026, CONAR updated Exhibit X of the CBAP, introducing stricter rules aimed at protecting children and adolescents and reinforcing the responsibilities of influencers and affiliates (see also 5.2 Liability for Third-Party Content).

Furthermore, the Digital ECA imposed an obligation on platforms to prevent and mitigate access to – and exposure of – children and adolescents to advertising, promotions and marketing for gambling/betting by removing such content (Article 6, Part IV and Article 22, Section 1 of the Digital ECA).

More recently, however, the Brazilian betting framework underwent a significant reversal. On 25 September 2026, President Lula issued Provisional Measure No 1,394/2026, prohibiting throughout Brazil the exploitation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting lotteries. The prohibition covers both sports betting and online games, whether offered in physical or virtual environments, including by operators based abroad to individuals located in Brazil. As a provisional measure, it has immediate effect and remains in force for an initial period of 60 days, which may be extended once for a further 60 days. During this period, it is subject to consideration by the Brazilian Congress and, if not converted into law within this applicable timeframe, it will cease to have effect.

Crop Protection Products

The advertising of crop protection products (agricultural pesticides) must be restricted to programmes and publications aimed at farmers and livestock breeders, and must include a full explanation of their application, use precautions and consumption – and, whenever necessary, warnings about any harm resulting from their use (Article 220, Section 4º of the Brazilian Federal Constitution, Law 9,294/96 and Decree 2018/96). Self-regulation also has specific rules, provided for in the CBAP (Exhibit R).

Medical Doctors, Hospital Services and Treatments

In 2023, the National Council of Medicine updated the rules on medical advertising through Conselho Federal de Medicina (CFM) Resolution 2,336/23, addressing the limits on advertising – especially in relation to social networks. Self-regulation also has specific rules (Exhibit G in the CBAP).