Ambush Marketing Crackdown in South Africa...

Two companies have been found guilty of ambush marketing in South Africa, it was reported this week, after the official South African national team shirt and popular name for the team, Bafana Bafana, were used in advertisements for non-sponsors Hyundai and MTN.

From Kickoff.com:

Safa wins ambush marketing cases

Posted: 2009-07-27 15:19

Safa has stepped up its efforts to protect their sponsorship rights from ambush marketing.
Safa has won two cases at the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA). This after two companies, MTN and Hyundai, were found to be at fault following their usage of Safa and Bafana Bafana brands while they are not sponsors or suppliers to the association and the senior men’s national team.

In the first case, Hyundai made an advertisement that depicted a Bafana player wearing an official national team jersey – which was viewed as a clear case of ambush marketing. The company has since withdrawn the advertisement and has vowed not to produce another one in future without Safa’s consent.

In the second matter, ASA ruled that MTN has implied in their advertisement that there is a connection between the company and Bafana. MTN had an advertisement which was headed ‘Turning young men into Bafana Bafana’, and was only referring to a competition which they sponsor and had nothing to do with the national team.

By the use of the words Bafana Bafana, MTN implied that they are an official sponsor of the national team, which is not the case.

Safa CEO Raymond Hack is content with both rulings, saying: “Our commercial department is closely monitoring ambush marketing practices, and we won’t hesitate to institute legal proceedings against anyone who embark on such unethical practices.

“Our national team is sponsored by Absa and Castle, and as a responsible association we will protect the rights of all our sponsors. Companies that want any association with Safa must do it procedurally by contacting us.”

While these cases may be seen as proof of the value and importance of anti-ambush marketing legislation, ultimately Hyundai and MTN both should have been aware of the dangers of using controlled and protected words/materials as they did. Even under normal intellectual property rights protection, both companies' advertisements knowingly infringed upon the rights of the South African football association and the national team, making the ASA's decision easy.

This has been a promising summer from an ambush marketing perspective in South Africa. Few major stories emerged from June's Confederations Cup, and this week's decision regarding the actions of Hyundai and MTN is not the first of its kind this year. While we should expect ambushing stories to increase as next summer approaches, and can count on prospective ambushers to be more ambitious and aware in preparing for the upcoming World Cup, FIFA's sponsors, and the South African organizers of next summer's event, may find themselves cautiously optimistic at this early stage. Only time will tell if such optimism is warranted...