Na Real: How Brazil Created the Blueprint for Youth Alcohol Education in Latin America
What began as a bold pilot in the state of Ceará in 2019 has grown into one of Brazil’s most compelling stories of educational impact, reaching over 1.4 million young people and counting. At the heart of this journey is the partnership between Collingwood Learning and Instituto Aliança, a collaboration built on a shared belief that young people deserve more than statistics and warnings; they deserve real stories that move them to think, reflect, and choose differently.
When Brazil became the first country in Latin America to implement the Smashed programme, few could have predicted just how far it would reach. Known locally as Na Real – a Brazilian Portuguese phrase meaning “for real” or “straight up” – the initiative was born out of a powerful partnership between Collingwood Learning, Instituto Aliança, Diageo, and the Ceará State Department of Education, launching in 2019 with a clear and urgent mission: to have honest conversations with young people about alcohol.
That commitment to keeping it real has paid off. Today, Na Real operates across the Federal District and eight Brazilian states, having reached more than 1.4 million young people – a number that speaks not just to the program’s scale, but to the genuine interest among young people and institutions alike for this kind of open dialogue. Na Real has not just scaled; it has shifted the conversation around underage alcohol consumption, bringing honesty, creativity, and theatre into spaces where young people feel genuinely heard.
No statistic captures Na Real’s impact quite like the journey of André. Today, he performs Na Real as an actor with the Coogó das Artes group, taking the program’s message to young audiences across Pernambuco and Paraíba. What makes his story remarkable is where it started – in the audience, as a teenager watching the very performance he now delivers.
André’s path from participant to protagonist is more than an inspiring story. It reflects what Na Real, at its best, is designed to do: not just inform young people, but move them, spark something that lasts long after the curtain comes down.
The impact of Na Real has also begun to shape public policy in ways that extend well beyond the classroom. In December 2024, the Governor of the Federal District enacted Law No. 7,631/2024, establishing the District Day for the Prevention of Alcohol Consumption by Children and Adolescents – an initiative that originated directly from Instituto Aliança.
Observed annually on February 20 and now embedded in the official district calendar, this day brings together media, schools, and the health sector to raise awareness of the risks of early alcohol use through coordinated educational action. It is a meaningful milestone: a programme that began on stage in Ceará in 2019 has now helped shape the law.
We are extremely proud of the growth of Na Real from a pioneering pilot into a movement that spans states, shapes legislation, and changes individual lives. Brazil has demonstrated something worth holding onto: when you speak to young people honestly, and when you give educators, partners, and even former participants the tools to carry that message forward, the impact scales – from classrooms to communities, and from communities to legislation.
Instituto Aliança’s dedication, creativity, and unwavering commitment to Brazil’s young people continues to inspire us. Together, we are building a generation of informed, empowered adolescents who can make responsible choices about alcohol, and a future where no young person faces that conversation alone.
