Netflix pokes fun in Brazil with ‘corruption shops’

The Mechanism. Image: Netflix official website

Brazilian travelers are finding something much more intriguing at airports than the booze and chocolates at duty free: “corruption shops.”

The stores popping up in Brasilia and Sao Paulo are a marketing gimmick of Netflix to promote its new series “The Mechanism,” which is based on Brazil’s so-called “Car Wash” corruption mega-scandal.

Looking like real shops — even if nothing is actually for sale — they display golden ankle monitoring bracelets, manuals on how to turn state’s witness, and underwear with secret pockets for cash.

On the bookshelf, there’s “1,001 things to do before you begin house arrest” and a dictionary called “Corrupterminos,” or a lexicon of corruption.

Netflix has a history of cheeky promotion campaigns in Latin America’s biggest country, including responding to real politicians’ tweets with sarcastic answers.

Like other curious travelers in Brasilia’s airport, Paulo Gabriel, 43, whipped out his cellphone and busily took pictures to share of the phony store.

But he wasn’t sure that making fun of Brazil’s endemic corruption will help resolve the problem. “I don’t know if it is the right way to do it,” he said. AB

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