Pardon the skirts, welcome the horns
I had mentioned the ambush marketing campaign that Bavaria Beer did at the World Cup last week.
To recap: women enter the Netherlands/Denmark match, they remove some attire to reveal orange mini-skirts which have a small name tag of the brewer attached. Said women are removed from venue and 2 are charged.
Well FIFA has dropped the charges and settled with Bavaria with Bavaria agreeing to abide by FIFA marketing rules until 2022 and stop discussing the incident. This article gives more detail.
To be fair, FIFA puts on the tournament (and others) with their own funds collected from licensing and sponsorship. It may seem they have dollar signs in their eyes but really are they only responding to the market forces- the world is raving mad about football. And what makes those forces- me and you. So we should blame ourselves for the way things have become.
As for the vuvuzelas, I am not convinced this is an African cultural thing as much as it is something attempting to unite fans to the hosting nation. I am certainly not convinced that in its current incarnation-the loud constant buzzing bleat- it is not representative of how these instruments are typically heard at matches. It seems that marketing may have also made this instrument into a hugely popular trinket. Will there be an offically sponsored sound of the World Cup in upcoming years?
To recap: women enter the Netherlands/Denmark match, they remove some attire to reveal orange mini-skirts which have a small name tag of the brewer attached. Said women are removed from venue and 2 are charged.
Well FIFA has dropped the charges and settled with Bavaria with Bavaria agreeing to abide by FIFA marketing rules until 2022 and stop discussing the incident. This article gives more detail.
So Bavaria gets slap on the wrist. I find it surprising that other ambush marketing ploys haven't been "thwarted" in the same way. I have heard Pepsi is being sold outside many venues. Is Pepsi, not an official partner, involved in ambush marketing? Or can certain entities "get around" the laws here?
- Another view
- FIFA's general statement concerning marketing and protecting sponsorship rights.
- About what the companys that are not official sponsors do
To be fair, FIFA puts on the tournament (and others) with their own funds collected from licensing and sponsorship. It may seem they have dollar signs in their eyes but really are they only responding to the market forces- the world is raving mad about football. And what makes those forces- me and you. So we should blame ourselves for the way things have become.
As for the vuvuzelas, I am not convinced this is an African cultural thing as much as it is something attempting to unite fans to the hosting nation. I am certainly not convinced that in its current incarnation-the loud constant buzzing bleat- it is not representative of how these instruments are typically heard at matches. It seems that marketing may have also made this instrument into a hugely popular trinket. Will there be an offically sponsored sound of the World Cup in upcoming years?
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