92% of Social Comments on Caixa's New Brand Are Negative

By James Calloway

92.4% of analyzed comments about Caixa's new brand identity were negative in the first 25 hours after launch. That's the headline finding from an Ativaweb DataLab study, shared exclusively ahead of publication, on the reception of the Brazilian state bank's rebrand, which went live today.

The scale of the conversation is hard to overstate. The study tracked 2.3 million mentions across Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok. And the backlash wasn't really about design.

What drove the backlash?

The project cost R$ 3.5 million, spread across 2024 to 2026. That number, not the logo itself, dominated the debate. The most common joke, according to the study: ChatGPT or Canva would have done the job for free.

The breakdown of negative sentiment tells the story:

• 17.5% criticized the new brand's aesthetics and said they preferred the old identity.
• 14.4% mocked the use of artificial intelligence and tools like Canva.
• 14.1% alleged misuse of public money — with no evidence presented, the study notes.
• Only 4.5% defended or praised the change; 3.1% were neutral.

The math is blunt: for every supportive comment, roughly twenty were negative.

Who is talking — and why it matters

Ativaweb DataLab found the conversation was driven by men (61%) and people aged 30 to 45. That's a demographic far from the young audience the bank says it wants to win over with the rebrand.

Geographically, São Paulo led the mention volume, followed by Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, Santa Catarina and Bahia.

In short: the people complaining loudest aren't the people the rebrand targets. Whether that softens the reputational damage or simply means the target audience isn't listening at all, the study doesn't say.

Why did the criticism compound?

Three specific missteps fed the fire, according to the research. First, the bank offered no public explanation of the investment. Second, an official Instagram post carried an "AI Content" label — which handed ammunition to critics already joking about the brand being machine-made. Third, a paid advertisement ran on a film-focused profile, and that placement itself triggered fresh criticism.

The most expensive part of the story may still be ahead. The R$ 3.5 million covers only the creation of the brand. Replacing the identity across Caixa's branch network, a gradual rollout scheduled to run until 2030, has no disclosed cost.

Until Caixa puts a number on that rollout — and explains the R$ 3.5 million it has already spent — the bank's most expensive brand conversation is likely to keep running on other people's terms.