Aside from the football itself, one of the quirkier stories to emerge from the World Cup over the last few days has been the arrest - and subsequent release - of two young Dutch women, arising from their attendance at a match involving their national team. The alleged crime was novel.
Simply put, they were arrested for wearing orange dresses as part of an ‘ambush marketing’ ploy by the Dutch beer company, Bavaria.
The case has become a global cause célèbre in recent days. The Governments of South Africa and the Netherlands have exchanged sharp words. FIFA - the worldwide football governing body - has been severely embarrassed by the stunt. It has also been a Godsend for the not insignificant minority of people who have no interest in football but are forced to feign fascination in the World Cup once every four years.
To recap, for those unaware, the two women were among a group of more than 30 Dutch women who attended the Netherlands v Denmark match wearing orange dresses. The group were subsequently removed by stewards en bloc at half time, on the grounds that they were actually at the match as a marketing stunt for Bavaria.
The reason - FIFA prohibits marketing activity at the tournament by brands that have not been formally licensed by the governing body and Budweiser is the ‘official’ beer of the World Cup. However, things became ridiculously heavyhanded, with two of the women being carted off to a police station and subjected to prolonged questioning, before being eventually freed from custody.
First and foremost, it seems unfair that two young women should be subjected to this kind of treatment for nothing more than the wearing of a dress. In fact, it could be argued that their removal owed more to overzealous cameramen than to anything they were wearing or doing. Every time there was a pause in the action, the camera would pan over the crowd before focusing - again - on the group of women.
Secondly, however, the case has brought to attention the whole concept of ambush marketing and why companies do it. So what is it, precisely? In a nutshell, ambush marketing is where a brand is promoted at an event at which it is not an official sponsor.
It should be noted here that Bavaria have previous in this department. At the 2006 World Cup, Bavaria issued Dutch fans with leeuwenhosen (basically, orange coloured lederhosen with lion’s tails - extremely random!). As Budweiser was, then as now, the official beer of the tournament, the garments were confiscated from the wearers and some Dutch fans ended up watching matches in their underwear.
Does it happen in Ireland? Well, actually, it does. In the Guinness All Ireland hurling championship 2005, the boots of the Cork players were sponsored by Corona, a rival drinks company to Guinness.
More recently, the advertising campaign for Hunky Dory’s (extremely difficult to miss, the one with the scantily clad women playing rugby) had the tag line ‘Proud Sponsor’s of Irish Rugby’. However, Hunky Dory’s are in fact the sponsors of All Ireland League Division Three side Navan, not exactly in the same league as the Irish rugby team. As you can imagine, outrage - on a number of levels - ensued.
The question of why companies do it is simple enough. Bavaria has gained more column inches and airtime in the last two weeks than it could ever have hoped to secure through more traditional forms of promotion.
Although risky, ambush marketing can actually be an extremely clever tactic. Regardless of arrest or legal action, it gives brands massive exposure, proving the old adage that, in many cases, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Catherine Collins is an intern at MKC Communications
FIFA has homogenised the World Cup to such an extent that the international marketing bullies of McDonalds and Budweiser have stopped the traditional braiiweis and Chibuku hawkers and street traders from within an unfair radius of each of the South African stadiums just so they can carve up the available profit between them. It is simply bullying for profit, and is a international shame that will not be stopped as long as important arse pockets are still being filled. The Bavarian girls were just another example of this, albeit a less deserving victim than the unfortunate salesfolk outside whose actual living and families might depend on how much they could sell. Ambush marketing is a phenomenon but is a bit of a red herring in the World Cup context.
Shame on you FIFA. What’s wrong with a little bit of local colour, or have you conclusive, documented, medical evidence of how the poor shareholders of Budwieser and McDonalds, et al, are all withering away with starvation? My arse.