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Charges Dropped in South Africa Against `Ambush Marketers' at World Cup
South African prosecutors dropped charges against two women from the Netherlands accused of participating in a so-called ambush marketing campaign for Dutch brewer Bavaria NV at a soccer World Cup match.
FIFA, soccer’s governing body, “indicated they are no longer interested in pursuing the matter because they have reached a settlement with Bavaria,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said today in a telephone interview from Johannesburg. “The terms of the settlement will not be disclosed by us.”
FIFA complained after 27 South Africans and three Dutch citizens donned orange dresses, which Bavaria distributes free with its beer, during the Netherlands’ opening tournament game against Denmark in Johannesburg on June 14. Orange is the official color of the Dutch team.
“All parties have agreed to drop any claims and also not to make any further comments related to this matter,” FIFA and Bavaria said in a joint statement. “Bavaria NV has agreed to fully respect the integrity of FIFA’s commercial program until the end of the year 2022.”
Bavaria previously said it paid for Barbara Castelein and Mirte Nieuwpoort to fly to South Africa and for tickets for them and 28 other women recruited to wear the dresses to the match.
“We are happy to go home and that the situation has been resolved”, Castelein and Nieuwpoort said in the statement issued on FIFA’s website today.
Orange Lederhosen
During the last World Cup, in Germany, Bavaria encouraged fans to wear “Leeuwenhosen,” orange lederhosen with a tail and the brewer’s logo on it. Supporters were ordered to take off the trousers before entering the stadiums.
Sponsors including Budweiser have paid around $1.2 billion to have the right to be associated with the World Cup, sport’s most-watched event. FIFA lawyers have filed more than 2,500 cases globally against parties it accuses of ambush marketing.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mike Cohen in Cape Town at mcohen21@bloomberg.net; Maud van Gaal in Amsterdam at mvangaal@bloomberg.net.
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