A rant about.... the World Cup

[sparkindarkness]

And another rant about… the World Cup.

Ok, this isn’t so much an “I hate it” as much as it is an “I don’t get it.” I’m no fan of football, beyond the general pleasure I get seeing lots of athletically fit guys running around in shorts and occasionally taking their shirts off I don’t see the attraction. Still, that’s not my beef. No, my beef, pork, chicken and entire farmyard are the bloody adverts! We have wall to bloody wall football. Furniture sellers, supermarkets, Argos, garden centres – ARGH every single bloody advert has a football theme.



WHY?! Are my fellow countrymen so obsessed that they’re more likely to buy a DVD player from Argos because the advert happens to mention football? What does football have to do with Argos anyway? They’re not even remotely related! Does anyone say “hey, furniture from that place will be cheap and good quality” “why?” “Because they have a football themed advert during the world cup! It must be good!” And no, it DOESN’T make the adverts more memorable because EVERY SINGLE BLOODY ADVERT FROM CREDIT CARDS TO CARS NOW INVOLVES FOOTBALL! It’s just one long football mass from beginning to end of the advert breaks.

I could UNDERSTAND if it were for trainers or a sports shop – hey, that makes sense. There’s the implication that the clumsy and inept can gain Beckham like skills by wearing a certain pair of trainers (ok, it’s doubtful, but hey, there’s a LINK). But for a super market? The link escapes me.

Which brings me on to the celebrities. Now, I can see Beckham advertising the aforementioned pair of trainers – fine. But him hocking Pepsi? What is his appearance in the add supposed to tell me other than the fact Pepsi can afford his huge fee? That he drinks Pepsi? Well, and? He likes Pepsi, he hardly has a reputation as a gastronomical connoisseur of any kind, why should I care if his taste buds find Pepsi more appealing than Coca Cola? That Pepsi will make me look like him or play like him? Nah, that’s just too dubious for even the dumbest man in the street. That Pepsi will get you what he got – the fame, the money, the wife? If so I think you’d see the biggest horrified boycott of Pepsi you could possibly imagine. And again, people aren’t that dumb. Is it a coolness thing? A Starbucks chic thing? (That somehow drinking something can make you cool). It’s Pepsi. Beyond serving temperature I don’t think any soft drink can be considered cool – can you imagine, “hey, he’s one of the cool kids, he drinks Tango?” No. Doesn’t work.

So why should I be in any way influence to buy Pepsi because Beckham is on the ad? Why should I shop at Asda because Michael Owen advertises them? Is there anything in his resume that suggests he has l33t shopping skills? I mean, I can understand Sainsbury using Jamie Oliver – even if the guy should be anally raped with an egg whisk, he’s still a chef. There’s RELEVENCY. But a football player? The same goes for any weird celebrity endorsement - if they're skill set is not relevent why do people care if various celebrities are pimping products?

I just don’t get it. I’m not even ranting at the advertisers here (cue demonic music) so much as I am ranting at the possibility that, yes, there ARE people in the country who buy Pepsi because of Beckham. Or shop at Asda because of Michael Owen, or eat those damn mints because that goal keeper (whose name I forget) appeared in the adds and cut his hair. Because that would be really depressing and really scary. It's sad to know people are that dumb. Sadder still that an industry has been built out of their stupidity.

Comments

[elrohana.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are people that dumb. There are people who pay a month's salary for a handbag because it says Gucci on the label. Not because it is finest leather and superbly made (you can get that from a decent leathercraft shop) but because of the label. There are people who wear things and buy things just because celebrity X does. There are people who subject themselves to abject humiliation in front of millions of people in the hope of 5 minutes of fame.

Sparky, you are a lovely chap, funny, witty, intelligent, educated, hell, you can probably cook too. Your other half is a very lucky man. However, if you have not by now realised that 50% of the British public (75% of the TV watching British public) are brain-dead sheep, then you need to spend less time in your ivory tower and more time in your local McDonalds.

[sapphybelle.livejournal.com]

My sister studies marketing and her textbooks are fucking scary. They go on about ways to target specific groups of people and suck them into buying stuff they dont really need.

[zero_pixel_count]

I just had a recruitment agency email that was world-cup based... <rolls eyes>

[only-playing.livejournal.com]

One of the good things about living this side of the pond: The world Cup is little more than a mention on local tv. Unfortunately we get the same thing for our football, basketball, occasional hockey, volleyball, college sports.....just shoot me now.

[baranduyn.livejournal.com]

Three things I enjoy about football (to you) soccer (to us) which I had to learn because an ex-boyfriend and two of my nephews were devoted players:

1.) Ten years ago here in the United of States World Cup coverage was only available via the Latin stations...Telemundo and Univision. One of the announcers would go into spasms of joy when anyone scored and shriek "goooooooooooooooooooooooal"! until I thought he might black out. I love that and find all kinds of excuses to use it in real life.

2.) I agree with Eddie Izzard that America's World Series may be some how rigged since it's always an American team that wins. Because with the exception of one Canadian team, we don't let anyone else play. The World Cup involves nations other than America, a concept I find exotic and fascinating. Also, if I watch it on the Latin station I learn the Spanish names for countries and Learning Is Good.

3.) It's allowed me to develop my own personal theory regarding which team will win any given game: the team that takes the field wearing no protective gear under their cute little shorts will win, because they are clearly fuckin' insane.

Of course, since I'm American I can watch it and pretty much ignore David Beckham unless he's actually playing in the game I'm watching. Advantage for me and probably hugely frustrating for the Beckhams who I suspect wish to be world famous. I wish Mrs. Beckham would eat a fucking sandwich once a year.

[ladydyani.livejournal.com]

I don't understand any sports, so I choose to ignore them. If I'm not playing it, it doesn't count. And I'm vicious when playing volleyball.

[electra310.livejournal.com]

It's the same way the world over. I think you should be grateful, because your football players tend to be way cuter than our football (for certain values of football) players. I gave up watching American football because, even though they do wear tight pants, everything else is obscured by sixty or seventy pounds of protective gear. Also, the game is wretchedly dull.

At least with soccer...ah, football, the guys are visible, and very physically fit, and they're running like crazy all over the place, so it's visually exciting even if you haven't got a clue what's going on! The game itself is much cooler, even if the adverts are annoying. At least in those adverts, you don't have a huge hulking FOOTBALL MONSTER in full protective gear with a big helmet trying to menace you into buying his product for your own safety.

[loralai.livejournal.com]

i'm usually not a big follower of sports.. unless something is shoved in my face and i happen to find it interesting, rather than annoying.

for some reason, the past two world cups i've bene in china (and hence not able to escape), so i've been dragged in by the under tow. not that i'm minding too much right now. it's something free to do and watch in my comfy-at-home clothes (you would not believe how dull most of the TV programming is over here...). also, some of these boys are hot.

beck i would not kick out of bed for eating cookies. his wife is scary looking. still, pretties are ment for looking at, not to listen to. (wow, that is a horribly sexist statement. i'm somewhere between proud and snarky and ashamed. huh.)

[lightandashes.livejournal.com]

It's simple, really: marketing and attention-grabbing (and money). Soccer is the world's most popular sport, as I'm sure you've noticed. Because of that, ads featuring it garner more attention--even from people who aren't fans or players, people like yourself. That's what the companies want, your attention. True, they want you to buy their products, whatever they happen to be advertising, but more importantly they want you to remember their company, their brand, their label. The longer you're subjected to said label, the more likely you are to buy a product with that label, whatever it is.

It's all exceedingly annoying and one of the many reasons I rarely watch television.

[baranduyn.livejournal.com]

Days later...

Oooh, I just read that Beckham stepped down as the captain of the UK team. Does this mean he'll keep a lower profile or will it just give him more free time to do more adverts?

I ask this mainly because I'm a troublemaker by nature and because I was faintly stunned when I went on a toiletries web site and found out he and his missus have a line of products in the UK. Whoa.