The World Cup was meant to be a celebration of a new Brazil -- powerful, prosperous and jubilant. When the ball starts rolling in three days the world may instead view images of violence and inefficiency. Seven years after gaining rights to host sport’s most-watched event, Brazil nears the tournament amid street protests, economic slowdown and a wave of strikes including subway and museum workers. 

Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are expected to be busy during the Brazil tournament, which an Adidas exec predicts will "undoubtedly be the most social World Cup ever and probably the most social event in history."

In one sense Brazil’s mega-event diplomacy has already worked, for it has brought the country an unprecedented degree of global scrutiny. But it has not been delivering quite the message intended.

Human trafficking and its connection to sports events have been discussed since the World Cup 2006 in Germany. Big and costly media campaigns warned of the rising problem of human trafficking of adult women in the sex industry. Since then, media and NGO campaigns became particularly visible before and around the World or European Cup, the Olympics and the Super Bowl. What can we learn from past experiences and research about this connection? 

If you haven’t heard the song by now, you soon will; Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 will be a big part of this summer’s soundtrack. As the World Cup in Brazil fast approaches, the 1963 Jorge Ben number is on tv, in adverts, cafes, bars—in fact, everywhere. One translation of the song’s title is “whatever”, a perfect country slogan for a track that seems to personify the stereotypical view many of us have of Brazil and Brazilians. 

When Coca-Cola's marketers began plotting efforts around this summer's World Cup in Brazil, there was no question a musical anthem would be key to the effort. Four years ago, the company first experimented with the creation of a song tied to World Cup. The remix of K'Naan's "Wavin' Flag" served to weave together campaign elements and gave the marketer a way to tap into local markets. Twenty-four local versions of the song were created, with local artists singing in their respective languages. 

The national mood in Brazil is grim, following a year in which more than a million people have taken to the streets of major cities across the country to protest corruption, rising inflation and a lack of government investment in public services such as education, health care and public transportation, among other things. A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that 72% of Brazilians are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country, up from 55% just weeks before the demonstrations began in June 2013.