FIFA clamps down on “Unofficial Sponsors” of the “You-Know-What”

The above is a quote from a spoof news article by satirical South African news website hayibo.com – implying that FIFA’s policing of their copyright protection has been taken to the extreme against South African companies that are supposedly in contravention of ambush marketing laws.

A company is said to conduct ambush marketing when it uses any of the official trademarks of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa to create the impression of an official association between the company/product/service and the prestigious tournament (even in ignorance). In addition, a combination of specific words or images – such as ‘World Cup’ and South Africa’, or images of soccer balls, vuvuzelas, soccer players and the South African flag – could be seen to push the limits of the copyright.

The trademark laws exist to protect the rights of the official sponsors who have ploughed billions of dollars into the event for the exclusive privilege of being rights holders, but some commentators believe FIFA may be taking the issue too far.

In their advertisement for flights, budget airline Kulula.com used their usual tongue-in-cheek humour to make the point that prices would not be inflated during the tournament. Their ad stated that Kulula was the "Unofficial national carrier of the 'You-know-what'", and was framed with soccer balls, vuvuzelas, soccer players and the South African flag.

FIFA’s lawyers sent the airline a stern warning and demanded they remove the ad from circulation. Subsequently, Kulula released a new ad with a very similar layout stating that their cheap flights would be available ‘not next year, not last year, but somewhere in between… because there are so many more exciting reasons to travel around our country this year than just for that thing we wouldn’t dare mention.’ In addition, there are arrows pointing to each of the images framing the ad, ensuring that readers interpret the images as completely unrelated to the World Cup – for example, an image that might be interpreted as the South African flag is labeled ‘a colourful beach towel’.

Heidi Brauer, marketing director for the airline, believes FIFA has been ‘over-the-top’ in their restrictions, saying, "We portrayed the SA flag, soccer balls, soccer players, vuvuzelas. That's what's going on in South Africa at the moment... South Africa belongs to South Africa."

Nevertheless, FIFA is allegedly investigating approximately 50 cases of rights infringement by South African companies, and believes contravention will increase as the tournament draws closer.

Penalties – which could include fines of around $700 per piece of merchandise and time in jail – would be determined according to the cost of the infringement to FIFA and the official sponsors. City councils are compelled to enforce FIFA’s rights protection, and metro police have been instructed to monitor and charge local businesses for infringement.

Whether or not companies using careful innuendo will beat FIFA at its own game remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure – no one in South Africa will forget the Kulula ad and, in this game, any publicity is good publicity.

* Long plastic horn blown by fans in football stadia around South Africa