FIFA's World Cup was "attacked" by an alleged swarm of brazen ambush marketers, adding to the annoyance of those infamous vuvuzelas.
Yep, not even the World Cup is safe from what some sports folks, media giants and official sponsors have called "parasites" aka "parasite marketing". Media Man and Gambling911 go undercover with this special report, and learn that a stunt not unlike the World Cup ambush is on the cards for Sydney, Australia...a gamble that the powers that be are prepared to make, with or without buxom beer babes, casino babes or poker babes...
Babes, Beer, Miniskirts, High Stakes and an Ambush Marketing attack on FIFA! Have we got your attention punters? Yep, that's what we thought.
As part of the scandal hatched by ambushing of a World Cup match, a British - Pom TV commentator has been "boned" (thanks Eddie McGuire) ... sacked after he was discovered to have passed on tickets, which were allegedly "used and abused" by a group of red hot sexy young women, mainly blonde's, as part of a strategic ambush marketing attack.
We think maybe they have been reading up on Media Man's "partner in crime" Kym Illman, founder of Messages On Hold, arguable the world's most successful (and notorious) "ambushers". At last count our mate Illman claims to attracted about 2 million dollars worse of free exposure via way of his ambushers, but the world cup team have given Illman a run for his money in a 1 Hit Wonder, unlike Illman's dozens executed over the years.
TV hound Robbie Earle lost his gig with ITV, but got short term massive fame in the process, after the network advised a substantial number of tickets allocated to him for the Netherlands-Denmark game were used and abused by beer outfit Bavaria Beer.
The world famous Budweiser (official sponsor), is the only beer company permitted to advertise (note the word "advertise") within the stadium grounds at the World Cup. FIFA protects its marketing interests in a lion like aggressive fashion, which are a serious money spinner for the organisation.
Speaking of money, check out Illman's 'Money Girl', dressed in nothing but $20 and $50 bills
Kill Illman and Money Girl
Messages On Hold
Markson Sparks! - Show Me The Money!
Media Man Ambush Collaboration With Maxx G And Aquasun At Bondi Beach
FIFA Legal Eagles Take Aim!...
FIFA lawyers are probing the women er... situation ...wear about 36 buxom babes, mainly blondes we rated 9s and 10s, wore orange miniskirts. Oh My God!!! The Crime.
"We will be consulting our lawyers to check if such action falls under ambush marketing," FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot told press.
Research conducted is showing about 40 tickets allocated to former TV man Earle found their way into the hot hands of the marketing co understood to have supremely orchestrated the ambush marketing effort on behalf of the beer brand Bavaria via a third party, thus generated international news media coverage. Pommie newspaper reported, backed by wires, and Media Man spies, back up the history of events.
Not content with just reporting on the story, Media Man International, the Asia Pacific arm, is said to be planning an ambush marketing stunt in Sydney some time soon...a birdie Tweeked. Recently Media Man did a Tweet reply to Australian Shane Warne, poker and cricket player, and yet another business mate of Illman's. Warne is also understood to be good mates with Aussie - Asia Pacific casino and lifestyle king, James Packer. Illman also shares a number of mutual business mates and associates with Media Man, including Max Markson (Markson Sparks!), who formed part of the Media Man - Messages On Hold - Warne - Bessie Bardot ambush marketing stunts over the years. Illman is so skilled in ambush marketing, he go one up on Virgin's Richard Branson at an Aussie airport a number of years ago, a accomplishment Illman still rates highly. Years later Media Man "ambushed" both Branson and Markson, but in friendly and mutually beneficial ways. Basically, no product placement, but the photos were used to considerable advantage and exposure on websites and some newspaper stories. A Media Man spokesperson said "Ambush marketing is still one of the best ways for a brand or even a person, to stand out from the pack and get noticed. Australia's Kim Illman is considered the worldwide leader. Brands and persons can attract huge exposure from stunts... photos and visuals, when executed correctly. Usually the money flows on after a successful stunt. On occasion a stunt can be mutually attractive, like a book promo for Markson's 'Show Me The Money'.
Earle, quite the sports nut and a former Wimbledon and Jamaica midfielder, has denied doing anything wrong, saying he was just naive.
"Call me naive but I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. I hope when people hear the full story they will see me in a different light." Mate, choose your words carefully. An Aussie sports identify used a word related to "Native" recently, "Cannibals", and its landed him in all sorts of hot water.
The hot and sexy soccer babes aka buxom and leggy beer babes, were detained for a number of hours and probed after they were spotted in the stands at Soccer City stadium.
The dresses were originally sold with Bavaria Beer packs in the Netherlands in the run-up to the World Cup, to the best of our knowledge. We enjoyed the blondes nether regions... their legs, just to clarify.
"We were sitting near the front, making a lot of noise, and the cameras kept focusing on us," babe Barbara Kastein told a South African broadsheet ala rag.
"In the second half, about 40 stewards surrounded us and forced us to leave the stadium," she complained.
They were escorted (no pun intended) to a FIFA back office where police probed them about their sexy dresses and asked if they worked for Bavaria Beer.
Some 3 hours later, the babes were released and back on the prowl, kittens and 1 or 2 cougar's, and police said they would continue investigating, The Star reported. For the record, milk and honey, nor cookies, were not offered to the litter.
The Dutch embassy in Pretoria in the past 24 hours (Eastern Standard Cougar Town Time) "made inquiries this morning with South African authorities about the grounds on which our citizens were held", foreign ministry spokesman Mr Aad Meijer proclaimed in The Hague.
Three of the women were Dutch, he mouthed, also stating that no explanation had been forthcoming by Tuesday afternoon.
"We are not aware of any South African legislation that allows people to be detained for wearing an orange dress."
FIFA said the women were "used by a large Dutch brewery as an instrument for an ambush marketing campaign", (but smartly for what is understood to mainly legal reasons, the dresses had no branding on them). Media Man understands that planners realised that they wouldn't need massive 'Messages On Hold' type branding for the stunt to be a worldwide success, such was the positioning of the brand and the existing market awareness, especially in relation to colours associated with beers in the region.
Punters make not mistake, their is an art of sorts in executing successful ambush marketing stunts.
Ambush Marketing Definition; Public Thank You To Jimmy Wales At Wikipedia...
Ambush marketing is a marketing campaign that takes place around an event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to the event. For most events of any significance, one brand will pay to become the exclusive and official sponsor of the event in a particular category or categories, and this exclusivity creates a problem for one or more other brands. Those other brands then find ways to promote themselves in connection with the same event, without paying the sponsorship fee and without breaking any laws.
Ambush Marketing Notable Events
1984 Olympics; Kodak sponsors TV broadcasts of the Games as well as the US track team despite Fujifilm being the official sponsor.
1988 Summer Olympics; Fujifilm sponsors the Games despite Kodak being the official sponsor.
1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona; Nike sponsors press conferences with the US basketball team despite Reebok being the official sponsor. During ceremonies, the players covered their Reebok logos.
1994 Winter Olympics; American Express sponsors the Games despite Visa being the official sponsor.
1996 Atlanta Olympics; sprinter Linford Christie wore contact lenses embossed with the Puma logo at the press conference preceding the 100 metres final, despite Reebok being the official sponsor.
1996 Atlanta Olympics; Messages On Hold strategically placed a banner within the camera frame as US runner Jon Drummond prepares for the opening leg of 4x100 relay final. The moment is broadcast live across the world.
1996 Cricket World Cup; Pepsi ran a series of advertisements titled "nothing official about it" targeting the official sponsor Coca Cola.
1998 FIFA World Cup; Nike sponsored a number of teams competing in the Cup despite Adidas being the official sponsor.
2000 Sydney Olympics; Qantas Airlines’ slogan "The Spirit of Australia" sounds strikingly similar to the Games’ slogan "Share the Spirit." despite Ansett Air being the official sponsor.
2003 Cricket World Cup; Indian players threatened to strike over concerns that the anti-ambush marketing rules were too strict. Of particular concern was the length of time before and after the cup that players were not allowed to endorse a rival to one of the official sponsors. Players argued that if they had pre-existing contracts that they would be in breach of them if they were to accept the ICC's rules.
2006 FIFA World Cup; fans of the Netherlands were made to remove Bavaria Brewery's leeuwenhosen because Budweiser was the official beer sponsor.
2008 Beijing Olympics; entire countries were tuned into the Opening Ceremonies, and worldwide, millions more saw former Olympic gymnast Li Ning light the torch and learned that he owns a shoe company with the same name, a direct rival of Adidas and quite famous in China, but not an official Olympic sponsor.
2010 Super Bowl XLIV; Canadian gay dating site ManCrunch was accused of ambush marketing when it submitted a controversial advertisement to CBS for air during the game. The theory is that ManCrunch produced the ad knowing that it would never be accepted and hoped the controversy would drum up the intended attention without having to pay the nearly US$3,000,000 price for an advertisement during the game.
2010 Winter Olympics; Team USA ice hockey goaltender Ryan Miller was ordered to remove the catchphrase "Miller Time" from his helmet under the IOC's ambush marketing rules, due to it also being the slogan of Miller Lite beer (though Miller Lite did not pay for the slogan). Likewise, the U.S. bobsled team was forced to remove their catchphrase, "Night Train," due to it being the name of a low-end fortified wine (again, the usage of the phrase was coincidental).
2010 FIFA World Cup;
A South African budget airline pulled back its ambush ad after a FIFA complaint that it infringed its trademark during the 2010 World Cup. Kulula.com's ad described the firm as the "Unofficial National Carrier of the You-Know-What". It also had pictures of stadiums, vuvuzelas and national flags. But FIFA said the airline could not use the symbols - even the word "South Africa", kulula.com's spokeswoman said. FIFA, however, said the images taken together were "ambush marketing".
Also during the tournament, 2 Dutch women were arrested for ambush advertising and 36 women ejected from the stadium when they were spotted wearing short orange dresses made by the Dutch brewery Bavaria on 14th June 2010. Anheuser Busch's Budweiser is the official beer of the event. ITV media pundit Robbie Earle was sacked from his role when it was claimed by FIFA that he had sold tickets meant for family and friends on to the Dutch beer company.
The Last Word...
Punters, as always please obey the laws in your applicable states, cities and counties. It's a calculated risk us teaching you cunning sports betting and casino punter types about ambush marketing, but one we are prepared to take for our ever loyal readership.
PS: we just received some packages containing what one may call ambush marketing materials from Perth based 'Messages On Hold' (the audio - visual communications company that Aussie cricket legend has fronted on occasion for our business mate, Kym "Mr Ambush Marketing King" Illman). Bondi Beach, Fox Studios - Moore Park, ANZ Stadium, and Acer Arena are a just a couple of rumoured venues for an upcoming attack. You heard it hear first!
The Late News
Crown Casino plans to bankrupt ex casino high-roller Harry Kakavas, who failed to score victory in court last year. Kakavas, a self-proclaimed pathological gambler, was due to be issued with a bankruptcy notice late last month, after an application by Crown to the Federal Magistrates Court. More news as details come to hand.
*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a bakers dozen of sectors they cover. *Media Man is currently ramping up its ambush marketing arm, both online and offline! The company motto is "Putting Your Name Out There!"
*The writer owns shares in Crown Limited and Virgin
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