Every global sports event sees the rise of unconventional methods to gain viewer attention and this year’s Eurocup was no exception. From Dutch girls over Times Square-racing to scandalous underpants, we take a look at the top three daunting, daring and sometimes downright illegal marketing guerilla stunts in sports.
3. The Red Bull Pit Stop on Times Square, 2009. (Red Bull)
In 2009, the usually stoic and hard-to-reach New Yorkers and tourists alike were stunned by a Red Bull vehicle crossing Times Square at high speed only to pull over for a tire-change at a full-blown NASCAR pit stop – all in the middle of one of the busiest squares in the world. The move made headlines the world over, reached 100.000 views over five days and was a huge success in promoting Red Bull’s interests in racing. The energy-drink company was at the time sponsoring two NASCAR cars, and has since transitioned into Formula 1.
2. The Bavaria Babes, Holland-Denmark Olympic Soccer Game, South Africa Summer Olympics 2010 (Bavaria)
At the 2010 Olympic Holland-Denmark soccer game, a group of beautiful Dutch women were seen removing their clothes to reveal a Bavaria-sponsored orange mini-dress to the great delight of the Dutch fans and slack-jawed players. The stunt made international news and sky-rocketed the Dutch beer-maker’s website-traffic, as well as boosting its sales. Bavaria has continued the tradition and the Bavaria Babes are now regularly crashing sports-events such as hockey and racing worldwide.
1. Bedtners Underpants-stunt, Denmark-Portugal EURO-Cup 2012 (Paddy Power)
In a seemingly innocent victory gesture upon scoring against Portugal in the Denmark-Portugal Euro cup qualifications game, Nicklas Bendtner, a player on the Danish team, lifted his jersey to reveal a pair of bright green boxers bearing the logo of the Irish bookmaker site Paddy Power. The soccer-player, well known for his bad boy antics both in his native Denmark and in England, where he plays for Arsenal, defended his actions by describing the act as merely “celebratory” . But this is not the first impressive stunt the Irish bookmaker has pulled in association with this year’s Euro cup. In June, Paddy Power made headlines by erecting an over 100 feet tall statue, “Roy the Redeemer”, on the shores of Dover. Based on the famous Brazilian Christ-figure and actually visible from France, “Roy” is none other than England’s football coach Roy Hodgson. There are no official numbers on how much these stunts have improved Paddy Powers sales, but based on “Bendtner’s underwear” and “Roy the Redeemer’s” Google hits (a staggering 599,000 and 898,000 – respectively) and their feature on all major news channels it’s probably (and pardon the pun) a safe bet to say they’re doing very well indeed.
So, it would seem that the obvious conclusion to our business-boosting top three would be for any company out there to put on their camo and head into the dirty world of guerilla-marketing, right? Not necessarily.
Cons
Guerilla marketing, arguably around long before Jay Levinson coined the term in the 1984 book of the same name has been sending global companies with very big budgets into a serious tiff. Due to the absurd amounts money associated with the sponsorship of a major sports event, the official organizers of both the EURO cup and the Olympic football, FIFA and UEFA, respectively, have taken a zero-tolerance approach to guerilla marketing activities. True to form, these no-nonsense policies resulted in big consequences for both Niklas Bendtner and the Bavaria girls.
The Bavaria Girls major success at the 2010 Olympics certainly didn’t turn out to be such a great experience for the thirty-six girls, who were arrested shortly after the stunt. Although released shortly thereafter, many of them expressed deep regret of their participation. The situation quickly turned into an even bigger media circus when it was discovered the girls had been let in to the game on tickets belonging to an ITV commentator, who promptly got fired. How he got 40 tickets to an Olympic Soccer game is still a mystery.
Niklas Bendtner fared no better in the aftermath of flashing his now world-famous underpants, as the UEFA fined him no less than 100.000 Euros ($123.000) and banned Bendtner from his next Eurocup game. Tempers flared as pundits argued the differences in consequences between the Bendtner stunt’s astronomical fallout and earlier UEFA penalties for racism (ranging from $26.000 to $70.000) and throwing fireworks and missiles onto the playing field ($23.000).
The future
The problem for the organizing committees is that enlisting the guerilla company in a legal battle only serves as further publicity. Known as the “Streisand-effect”, this phenomenon highlights the natural curiosity people have for eyeing “forbidden” material. The effect got its name in 2002 when the famous singer in vain tried to prohibit the posting of aerial pictures of her home only to find her attempt generating even further publicity and curiosity for the innocuous real estate footage. In the case of both the Bavaria Girls and Niklas Bentner, it is all but certain that the legal aftermath was the source of many of the subsequent views.
So – what do you think? Is guerilla marketing democratic creativity at its best, illegal advertising hooliganism or just plain irrelevant?
Marie K. Irvine – Digital Media Planner at Art of Branding New York. Comments or questions, contact mirvine@artofbranding.us.com.
Art of Branding is a New-York based Marketing & Branding Agency specializing in strategic, digital and creative solutions. Read more about us at www.artofbranding.us.com or e-mail us at info@artofbranding.us.com.
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