The Royce Files

With the FIFA World Cup over we can all now go back to work. And I can bemoan fairly poor finale that pitted Spain against Netherlands. Although superb at times during the tournament, the Dutch decided to hack it out with Spain which culminated with 12 yellow cards, a sending off, and a Spanish victory. It appeared that Mr. Glasses may have scored for the Spanish. I never knew he played, but he cropped up and scored the winning goal. Not one to play favorites, he also played for the Dutch as well that evening. The evidence is below. Thank you Mister Glasses. I never knew what you could do. You may ask, just who is this Mister Glasses fellow? Good question. First he is an architect. But I'll let his video explain it. The 3rd place match between Germany and Uruguay was highly entertaining. In retrospect neither of these teams had the pressure and so played a freer game with plenty of goals. Though Germany were the victors, Uruguay's Diego Forlan nearly brought his team back...

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 . 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 So...

I am by no means an marketing expert but when a news story flashed across the wire concerning ambush marketing at the World Cup I was curious to know more. 30 women came to the Netherlands Denmark game dressed in orange skirts which were apparently tied to a give-away by an non-FIFA sponsor brewer (Bavaria). For an academic look at ambush marketing I read this article by Jason Schmitz . It also took a bit of turn when it was discovered that an ITV commentator bought the tickets for these women in orange skirts even though FIFA stipulates such bulk ticket purchases should be for friends or family. Bavaria denies any wrongdoing.  The South African police view these marketing infringements "in serious light," according to a statement. So if 30 fans showd up in the same orange strip of the Holland team which was acquired in another non-sponsor giveaway would police act the same? Maker of the jersey, Nike, is not an official sponsor or partner. If they want to be consistan...

Adidas released this long commercial featuring amongst others Daft Punk, Snoop Dog, and David Beckham. There may be others in this advert for the World Cup but I am unsure who they all are. I think I saw Noel Gallagher. The commercial blends these notables into the cantina scene from Star Wars (the one that came out in 1977). It's good for a grin or two. World Cup kicks off this Friday with game 1 Mexico versus hosts South Africa. I suspect it will be a lively affair. At every World Cup the host nation has made it out of the group stages. However, this time around it appears that some pundits are predicting this won't be the case. However, the unknown elements of these tournaments bestow special favor upon hosts. I am hoping the match will be free flowing and the South Africans will surprise Mexico by coming up with a draw. The big game for the Yanks on the weekend sees them play a star studded but a bit staggering England side. The English always seem to get plenty of...

The World Cup is fast approaching as most of the world knows. Well, this part of the world doesn't know it that well. They couldn't tell Lionel Messi from Clint Dempsey. The game stateside is still developing. It's adopted more American ways by eschewing relegation and embracing playoffs. Hence, why last season in MSL Real Salt Lake won the MLS cup despite having a losing record. Oh and Beckham and Co were on the losing end. Enough with the intro. This whole thing precipitated when DJ Segue had some questions concerning soccer this week. You see, he was confused why Barcelona won on Thursday night but Inter Milan go to the European Cup final. Well, its on of those insider things. The match was played over 2 games and the highest aggregate score advances. And if tied the goals scored away from home count more. Inter had 3 total goals to Barcelona's 2. The World Cup used to be played similarly during the early years of the tournament. Now it follows a league and knock-out...