Airline pulls ‘ambush’ ad after Fifa complaint 22/03/2010 |
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Fifa has ordered a South African budget airline to pull an advert it claims breaches 2010 World Cup trademark rules.
Kulula.com's ad described the company as the ‘Unofficial National Carrier of the You-Know-What’. It also featured pictures of stadiums, vuvuzelas (a South African plastic trumpet used by football fans) and national flags.
Fifa argued that together the images constituted ‘ambush marketing’, with a Kulula.com spokeswoman claiming that world football’s governing body had said the airline could not use the words “South Africa”.
However, Fifa said in a statement: "For the record, Fifa did not tell Kulula that they could not use soccer balls, or the word 'South Africa', or the Cape Town stadium, or the national flag or vuvuzelas.”
It was the combination of these elements which were banned, the statement added.
Fifa said the ad breached South African law "by seeking to gain a promotional benefit for the Kulula brand by creating an unauthorised association with the 2010 Fifa World Cup".
Heidi Brauer, a marketing manager of Comair Limited, a holding company for Kulula.com and British Airways in South Africa, told the BBC: "We're surprised by this Fifa complaint but have to be respectful because Fifa has very stringent rules."
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