Advertising Giants Won't Drink To Empty Cup
Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 10:42AM 
Ambush Marketing
Keeps Nike, Bavaria
In The Spotlight
By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season
After a week of World Cup games, you probably think Nike is among the event's largest sponsors.
Considering many of the players are rocking boots from the Oregon-based apparel giant, and that not-so-subtle "Write The Future" television ad or a variation of it replays almost every commercial break, you'd think the Swoosh and FIFA enjoyed a formal and mutually beneficial partnership.
But despite its slightly inferior advertising presence, Adidas is actually the official equipment sponsor of the Cup. What practically amounts to ambush marketing has allowed Nike to reach the many millions of global Cup viewers without any trouble.
It's not the first time Nike has been accused of the ambush technique. At the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, the Swoosh erected Nike billboards and even built a Nike village next to the athletes' official village, diluting Reebok's presence as the Games' official equipment partner.
Sponsorship of major sporting events is obviously big business, with seven- and sometimes eight-figure deals requiring protection in almost the same way heads of state attending this Cup need personal security.
Which is why Budweiser, the official beer sponsor of World Cup 2010, enjoyed watching event organizers Tuesday round up 36 young women sporting orange mini-dresses in a promotion for Dutch brewery Bavaria. Outside of the obvious reasons for enjoying watching 36 young women in orange mini-dresses, Budweiser liked this stunt even more because the hotties and their superiors behind the move were accused of "unlawful commercial activities" after they were kicked out of the Netherlands-Denmark game on Tuesday, according to the BBC.
Like Nike, Bavaria has prior experience with ambush marketing on the global stage. Click here to read about its 2006 World Cup strategy.
Advertisting, Nike, World Cup
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