It All Started with the Search for Cautchouc: Pirelli in Brazil
“Dearest Dad…”. The story of Pirelli in Brazil began over a hundred years ago, when Giovanni Battista Pirelli sent his son Alberto to South America to report on the state of the plantations of rubber, or cautchouc. The young Alberto enthusiastically told his father about his journey of exploration in typewritten letters, which are now in our Historical Archive. In them, he gave detailed accounts of people and natural environments, along with photographs showing the state of production and the potential for development by the company. One beautiful letter that Alberto wrote on 13 November 1912 reveals all his passion for this task, as well as his rare spirit of observation.
Pirelli established its presence in Brazil in 1929 when it took over the Companhia Nacional de Artefactos de Cobre, a company that manufactured electrical conductors and that became Pirelli’s first production centre in the country. From then on, the story of the Long P in Brazil became one of technological developments and inspired communication. A story in which Pirelli corporate culture joined hands with cultura Brasileira.
For a better understanding, however, we really need to go back to the beginning. Between 1929 and just over a decade later, Pirelli “doubled”, for in 1941 it set up Pirelli S.A. Companhia Industrial, which added the production of tyres to that of cables. The company chairman was Giorgio Pirelli, the third son of Giovanni Battista. Within a few years, the factory in Campinas and the one in Gravataí, near Porto Alegre, and later the one in Sumaré, were all further additions to the one in Santo Andrè, just outside São Paulo. Among other things, the first tyre test track in South America was built here. Last of all came the plant in Feira de Santana, which started operating in 1986 with a special focus on the environmental compatibility of its production.
As we have seen, a distinctive feature of Pirelli’s operations in Brazil has always been the successful bond between Pirelli’s corporate culture and the culture of Brazil. And one of the best examples of these ties – as can be seen in our Archive – is Noticias Pirelli, the house magazine that first came out in 1956, a few years after Fatti e Notizie in Italy. The whole life of the company in Brazil unfolded in the pages of Noticias: from visits to the factory to answer the question “Onde trabalha papai?, to the holidays at Christmas and Easter. And then there are articles on the many cultural activities that transformed the factory into the perfect place for theatre performances, exhibitions, literary debates, and more. Over the years, a fair proportion of Brazilian culture has found its way into Pirelli factories. Also, Noticias reported on the countless sporting events put on by the Club Atlético Pirelli (CAP).
Brazil thus became a land of exploration and technology. And, of course, it has also made a huge contribution in the field of communication. Power is Nothing Without Control made history in Pirelli communication and, indeed, in communication in general. And in 1988 the sight of “O Fenômeno”, the Brazilian footballer Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, in a breath-taking sequence of goals that ends by revealing his secret – a Pirelli tyre tread under his feet – was at the heart of the advertising campaign created that year by the Young & Rubicam agency. Previous editions had starred other athletes, starting from the many-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis.
Pirelli in Brazil: an expression of a close bond between two countries. It is no coincidence that, on the occasion of a state visit in 2016, Pirelli lit up the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado with the colours of the Italian flag.
A visible sign of the importance that Pirelli attributes to Brazil, where the company continues its investments in the twenty-first century, with a view to making the production of tyres increasingly competitive also overseas. Pirelli now has factories in Campinas and Feira de Santana, for the manufacture of car tyres, and in Gravataí, for motorcycle tyres. The story of rubber keeps moving forward, on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Dearest Dad…”. The story of Pirelli in Brazil began over a hundred years ago, when Giovanni Battista Pirelli sent his son Alberto to South America to report on the state of the plantations of rubber, or cautchouc. The young Alberto enthusiastically told his father about his journey of exploration in typewritten letters, which are now in our Historical Archive. In them, he gave detailed accounts of people and natural environments, along with photographs showing the state of production and the potential for development by the company. One beautiful letter that Alberto wrote on 13 November 1912 reveals all his passion for this task, as well as his rare spirit of observation.
Pirelli established its presence in Brazil in 1929 when it took over the Companhia Nacional de Artefactos de Cobre, a company that manufactured electrical conductors and that became Pirelli’s first production centre in the country. From then on, the story of the Long P in Brazil became one of technological developments and inspired communication. A story in which Pirelli corporate culture joined hands with cultura Brasileira.
For a better understanding, however, we really need to go back to the beginning. Between 1929 and just over a decade later, Pirelli “doubled”, for in 1941 it set up Pirelli S.A. Companhia Industrial, which added the production of tyres to that of cables. The company chairman was Giorgio Pirelli, the third son of Giovanni Battista. Within a few years, the factory in Campinas and the one in Gravataí, near Porto Alegre, and later the one in Sumaré, were all further additions to the one in Santo Andrè, just outside São Paulo. Among other things, the first tyre test track in South America was built here. Last of all came the plant in Feira de Santana, which started operating in 1986 with a special focus on the environmental compatibility of its production.
As we have seen, a distinctive feature of Pirelli’s operations in Brazil has always been the successful bond between Pirelli’s corporate culture and the culture of Brazil. And one of the best examples of these ties – as can be seen in our Archive – is Noticias Pirelli, the house magazine that first came out in 1956, a few years after Fatti e Notizie in Italy. The whole life of the company in Brazil unfolded in the pages of Noticias: from visits to the factory to answer the question “Onde trabalha papai?, to the holidays at Christmas and Easter. And then there are articles on the many cultural activities that transformed the factory into the perfect place for theatre performances, exhibitions, literary debates, and more. Over the years, a fair proportion of Brazilian culture has found its way into Pirelli factories. Also, Noticias reported on the countless sporting events put on by the Club Atlético Pirelli (CAP).
Brazil thus became a land of exploration and technology. And, of course, it has also made a huge contribution in the field of communication. Power is Nothing Without Control made history in Pirelli communication and, indeed, in communication in general. And in 1988 the sight of “O Fenômeno”, the Brazilian footballer Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, in a breath-taking sequence of goals that ends by revealing his secret – a Pirelli tyre tread under his feet – was at the heart of the advertising campaign created that year by the Young & Rubicam agency. Previous editions had starred other athletes, starting from the many-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis.
Pirelli in Brazil: an expression of a close bond between two countries. It is no coincidence that, on the occasion of a state visit in 2016, Pirelli lit up the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado with the colours of the Italian flag.
A visible sign of the importance that Pirelli attributes to Brazil, where the company continues its investments in the twenty-first century, with a view to making the production of tyres increasingly competitive also overseas. Pirelli now has factories in Campinas and Feira de Santana, for the manufacture of car tyres, and in Gravataí, for motorcycle tyres. The story of rubber keeps moving forward, on both sides of the Atlantic.
