Usually, most can agree that 36 blondes showing up to an event in mini-dresses is a good thing. Not so if you shelled out millions to sponsor the World Cup.
The BBC reports on the burgenoing industry of "ambush marketing" wherein smaller businesses organize a public adveritsing stunt at a big event that they wouldn't otherwise hve been able to advertise at, pushed out by advertising giants who pay to sponsor the event.
This time, the Dutch brewery Bavaria organized such a stunt during the Netherlands/Denmark match at South Africa's Soccer City stadium. The stunt involved 36 young women dressed in bright orange mini-dresses showing up to capture the cameras' attention. And it worked... until all 36 women were ejected from the stadium, some with graver charges against them.
Here's a brief from-the-stands video of the stunt:
The whole incident has sparked a debate over the rights of big companies at these sorts of affairs, as Budweiser had exclusive advertising rights at this event.
As the BBC reports:
Sponsorship is big business, both for the brands splashing out and sporting governing bodies cashing in - meaning that so-called "ambush marketing" has itself become a huge growth industry.
Some worry what this may mean for sponsorship of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. The article explains:
[T]he organisers of the 2012 Olympics have already taken the precaution of booking almost all the city's billboard space during the games. The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 created the London Olympic Association Right (LOAR), which gives the games' organisers the power to grant licences to authorized sponsors to use the symbols, words and logos of the event. It also prevents any advert or merchandise with the combination of words and symbols which could create an unauthorized association with the games.