Budweiser Ambush in South Africa

Budweiser (BUD) is hiding behind the skirts of FIFA World Cup organizers. Bud paid large sums for the exclusive advertising rights for Beer. During the Holland - Denmark match last Monday approximately 36 incredibly attractive Dutch women attended the game wearing bright orange mini skirts. If you have any testosterone you took a very good long look.

The ambush marketing ploy was orchestrated by another beer company called “Bavaria” which is Dutch based. (As reported by NYT) The colour orange plays a very big role in Bavaria’s branding. The girls seemed to be having a really good time. They cheered enthusiastically for Holland who did win the match.

But South African police arrested some of them for unlawful commercial activities. Not sure why only some ladies were arrested, they all were wearing bright orange. Hard to miss. South Africa has come a long way since Apartheid when colour made you wrong. Colour still makes you wrong, but now it’s a money thing. How civilized!

Budweiser is depending on FIFA to vigorously protect it against Bavaria. If FIFA and the South African police get this wrong, Budweiser will lose out. Who do you want to bet on?

Disclosure: No position in any stocks mentioned in this post.