World Cup/FIFA - Neymar - Underwear - Speedo - Guerrilla Marketing

Brazilian Soccer star, Neymar, found a way to show off his sponsor's brand/trademark of underwear, this time in the World Cup.  Below in a cleverly written article, the author points out the financial interests of FIFA, the guerrilla marketing efforts of third party brand owners and the apparent cooperation of the sponsored athlete (who has done this before).  Let's just hope this doesn't escalate into commando tactics...   :-)

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/fifa-reportedly-investigating-neymar-for-displaying-prohibited-underpants-213839830.html

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According to a separate article, the underwear worn by Neymar was by SPEEDO®, which is not a World Cup sponsor:

excerpt:  "According to the report, part of Neymar's Speedo undergarments were exposed during the customary  post-match procedure of exchanging jerseys with an opposing player. The issue is that Speedo is not a World Cup-sanctioned line of clothing."

http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2014-06-25/neymar-underwear-briefs-fifa-investigation-brazil-world-cup-2014-speedo

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Apparently this story was first published by the Brazilian Portuguese language news organization, UOL esporte, as follows:

http://rodrigomattos.blogosfera.uol.com.br/2014/06/25/fifa-investiga-sunga-exposta-de-neymar-em-jogo-da-copa/

which includes two photos of the offending SPEEDO® underwear.  Interestingly enough, the SPEEDO® word mark is not present on this particular style of underwear which looks to be reminiscent of a "tie dyed" design.

(photo source:  UOL esporte; shown here for 'fair use' purposes only)

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Stay tuned for more fallout from this latest guerrilla marketing campaign/snafu/underwear caper...

Respectfully and amusingly,


William Maguire
www.TrademarkEsq.com

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