Bavaria’s orange revolution
The only official beer for the World Cup 2010 is Anheuser Busch’s Budweiser. Other brewers are not allowed to advertise within the stadium. The FIFA is known to fiercely protect its marketing interests and react rigorously when someone threatens them.
The Oranje Babes in their orange mini-dresses with the Bavaria logo were turning heads and attracting the cameras all over the stadium. So it was no small wonder that FIFA officials finally discovered them, realised that they were part of an illicit marketing campaign and threw them out at half-time.
They were subsequently reported to the police and are being prosecuted under the Contravention of Merchandise Marks Act.
Two of the Dutch girls were arrested again on Wednesday morning, then they were released on a Rand 10,000 bail (EUR 1,000).
The whole affair had other consequences as well: Since the women got their tickets from former English football pro Robbie Earle, he got fired by the broadcaster ITV.
Bavaria itself at first denied any involvement, but later on it became apparent that it had initiated the campaign and paid for it.
The independent Dutch family brewer with the German name is not exactly a blank slate: Already in 2006, at the last World Cup in Germany Bavaria allegedly sent their fans to the matches wearing Bavaria-branded lederhosen – which they were ordered to remove when they tried to enter the stadium.
Also the mini-dress thing is not new: The sexy orange outfit has already caused a stir at a match between Mexico and the Netherlands in Freiburg, Germany in May. Apparently the global brewer Heineken, who has an exclusive advertising contract with the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association), was not amused when suddenly spotting the Bavaria-logo decorating the charming Dutch girls’ thighs.
For the neutral observer, the ironic touch of the little drama is obvious: FIFA might have a point, but their strategy clearly backfired. Their harsh reaction simply helped drawing too much attention to the whole affair, thereby giving the “offenders” significantly more coverage than they would have otherwise got. And looking at all the media all over the world covering the story, one can’t help but wonder if, in the end, FIFA helped promoting Bavaria, though unintentionally.
In the meantime the hot orange outfit has become a must-have for female footie fans: Reportedly Bavaria already sold more than 200,000 of the mini-dresses in supermarkets in the Netherlands, together with 8-packs of Bavaria beer.
