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FIFA Files Criminal Charges in Guerilla Marketing Case

I'm sure most of you are familiar by now with the orange miniskirt wearing blonde beauties that FIFA had unceremoniously removed from the World Cup match between the Netherlands and Denmark.  Sure, the girls were an ambush marketing scheme by Bavaria, a Dutch brewer, but they were blondes in bright orange miniskirts so what's the harm, right?  Anheuser Busch InBev's Budweiser is the official beer of the World Cup and FIFA is sworn to protect.  But how much danger are 36 girls in orange bikinis?   After all, there were no markings on the girls' outfits to indicate any connection to Bavaria at all; they were just solid orange, the Dutch team color.  The FIFA marketing police were not amused and carted off to jail the two women who had flown in from the Netherlands to organize the outing.

FIFA  has since decided to file criminal charges against Bavaria, accusing the brewer of ambush marketing tactics during the World Cup, which apparently is now a criminal offense, at least in South Africa. FIFA stated in response to the charges:

?This Dutch company has a long history of trying ambush marketing tactics at sports events,? said FIFA spokesperson Delia Fischer. ?The latest target had been the Dutch national team itself, and the Dutch FA had already objected to the strategy employed by this brewery for ambush activities around the national team matches using the exact same promotional objects.?

Fortunately, the women are now out on bail; yet they remain dangerous to the state:  ?These women, who have been part of a larger group, are suspected to be involved in organized acts to conduct unlawful commercial activities during the Denmark/Netherlands match on Monday,? South African police said in a statement.

I'm all for enforcing trademarks and copyrights, but throwing folks in jail for ambush marketing seems to me a little on the harsh side.  Especially, when we're talking about some girls wearing miniskirts that have no company markings on them.  A harmless stunt that gave Bavaria far more publicity after the police stepped in than they would have ever received had everyone just ignored them.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on June 18, 2010 (boomark / email).