He FIFA World Cup is underway, and the fans are being exposed to more advertising during the games ever.
While the games have always been packed with sponsors and advertisers, fans complain that this World Cup has felt more saturated with advertising than previous editions. For example, games now have mandatory “hydration breaks”. The breaks themselves are sponsored, and game viewers see additional ads during them.
This advertising saturation goes beyond what people see on television. According to some people who work in games, this extends to what they can wear at work.
What did this woman have to do with her shoes?
In a video with more than 5.4 million views, TikTok user Julissa Leilani (@nvmjvlissa) explains how she ended up in a peculiar situation.
“I’m working on the World Cup at the Levi… oh, sorry. At ‘San Francisco Bay Area Stadium,'” he begins, referencing the fact that the The stadium was renamed for the World Cup.. “They had sent us an email telling us we couldn’t use any brands, which I understand.”
Unfortunately for Leilani, she says she accidentally wore a pair of shoes with a prominent Nike logo. As a result, he says management “handed me a tape and said, ‘You have to cover that up. That’s not Adidas.'”
Leilani then shows off her shoes. They are completely wrapped in black tape.
“This is what they forced me to do,” he says. Looking at her shoes, she is incredulous and sarcastically tells management, “Bro, it’s not that big of a deal!”
Why was she forced to do this?
As BroBible previously mentioned about Levi’s Stadium—also known as San Francisco Bay Area Stadium—FIFA is incredibly protective about which brands are highlighted during World Cup matches. This is why any visible brand that does not sponsor the games, even if present only incidentally, is obscured when FIFA World Cup matches are held.
In Leilani’s case, it probably conflicted with FIFA’s sponsorship with Adidas. in it FIFA websitethe organization writes that, at all of its events, “FIFA officials, referees, volunteers and the entire Youth Program (player guard, ball team, flag bearers) wear Adidas products from head to toe.”
Making someone use a product other than Adidas violates FIFA’s “clean” stadium policy for sponsorsthat is, free of competition. As a result, Leilani was asked to cover the logo.
While some brands may be frustrated to see their logos covered up, others have embraced it. After the Levi’s logo was covered at Levi’s Stadium, the company they quickly changed their social media logos to the covered logo. The company then covered logo at several of its prominent locations around the world, turning the event into a viral stunt.
Even underneath Leilani’s video, Levi’s left a comment saying, “You got caught too, huh.”
Commentators say it’s excessive
In the comments section, some users made jokes about the situation.
“Just don’t do it,” one commenter wrote.
Others questioned how it was possible to follow a “no branding” directive for shoes, given that many sneaker brands have prominent brand names.
“How do you not wear a designer shoe? HOWWWW,” one user asked.
“Okay, but literally everything is a brand, so what do they want you to do?” Another repeated.
“They need to provide the full uniform if that’s the expectation,” stated a third.
Finally, some users said that FIFA was simply taking things too far.
“They’re doing too much,” another TikToker shared. “No one is going to look at a worker’s Nikes and say, ‘Oh my God, I NEED to buy Nikes now.’”
BroBible contacted FIFA via email and Leilani via email and Instagram direct message.
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