Ambush Marketing and the De-Pantsing of the Dutch

An interesting development at the World Cup relating to "ambush marketing," a thorny problem in sports marketing that Greg discussed a while back. Ambush marketing generally "is where a rival company to an official sponsor buys ad space in and around key venues, hoping to receive exposure and association with major events." The practice is of questionable legal validity and poses some ethical challenges as well. Recent legislation in a number of countries has targeted ambush marketeers.

The "ambush" here consisted of a Dutch beer maker Bavaria NV (a rival of World Cup official beer, Bud Light) giving out orange pants to thousands of Dutch fans featuring Bavaria's logo on the rear section of the pants. Holland's fans love to wear orange -- and orange pants are generally hard to find outside of an Austin Powers movie.

FIFA refused fans wearing the pants admission to the Netherlands-Ivory Coast soccer game, leading thousands of fans to remove their pants and watch the game in their skivvies!

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