Every time I turn on Waze, I’m greeted by the mascot turning into three minions that stack on top of each other. Then the app offers up the opportunity for World Cup score updates. It feels like they needed to pick one.
Then I’m in the check out at CVS and it seemed like every product was promoting a different character. Mr. Beast was on Jack’s Links. A closeup of Grimace’s face was on the McDonald’s gift cards. Then there were the soccer stars…
The color of the Firecracker Pop caught my eye first on this Nabisco stand. Then I saw it’s a soccer theme. As a soccer mom who consistently purchases Chew Chips Ahoy and Oreos, I don’t really need “snack goals” to motivate my purchase. We always have soccer and cookies, so this felt like they were only trying to capitalize on the World Cup without saying World Cup.
I’m not sure everyone knows they can’t run around promoting ties to the World Cup that don’t officially exist. Major companies that bought the naming rights to stadiums have been asked to remove their names from the stadiums because they are not FIFA sponsors. It happens in other sports, too. During March Madness, you cannot actually say March Madness unless you are a sponsor.
When I recently attended a small business roundtable, I wasn’t expecting them to share NYC has a toolkit ready for people interested in taking advantage of the World Cup this summer. Considering that Small Business Services offers pro bono lawyers, I’m sure they don’t want anyone to be sued by FIFA. It’s easier to provide a toolkit.
The city’s site answers questions from how to host a watch party to how to find other people’s events. They don’t get into trademark infringement, like how maybe you should say you are hosting a watch party for Haiti v. Brazil and not the World Cup even if you don’t need an official viewing permit for your party.
TLDR: Don’t use the official FIFA or World Cup logos! That’s the first way to avoid copyright infringement. Then use the city site to help you figure out more places to go sell any fan keepsakes you’re making that you want to sell in person this summer.
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