T-SEARCH®

Mães da Sé addressed the ongoing missing persons crisis in Brazil by riding the cultural wave of street fashion to make the search for lost loved ones impossible to ignore, waking up everyone from mainstream media to the government.

T-SEARCH® responded to a crisis of invisibility with zero media budget. In Brazil, 200 people go missing every day, yet the issue rarely gains traction. The strategy was to embed the cause into a rising streetwear trend—bootleg T-shirts printed with celebrity faces. By swapping idols for portraits of missing individuals, T-SEARCH® turned fashion into pressure. It bypassed paid media, organically reached 235 million people, generated $5 million in earned media, and raised $8,000 for the NGO. Five people were found during the campaign period, and 16 by April 2025. The NGO was later invited to the National Committee for Missing People, contributing to two bills now under review. It’s a case of culture used as infrastructure—powered by insight, not investment.