Via @dylangold TikTok/Ahmed Khawaja Adobe Stock
If you have seen FIFA World Cupyou’ve probably noticed that things look a little different.
Some of it is just us Americans getting used to football (and all the advertising—I mean, “hydration” breaks down). But if you look closely and listen carefully, you’ll see that even familiar stadiums look and sound a little different. Should we all just pretend it’s normal to call SoFi Stadium “Los Angeles Stadium”? It’s in Inglewood!
While some of these changes are minor, FIFA’s other attempts to remove branding have led to some hilarious situations, as a TikTok user recently shared.
What is happening to this FIFA World Cup Stadium?
In a video with over 5.8 million views, TikTok user Dylan Gold (@dylangold) shows himself at a FIFA World Cup match. While he’s surrounded by fans, one thing viewers won’t be able to see around him are the names of non-FIFA-affiliated brands.
“It’s actually crazy,” says Gold.
After a second, he shows the spice dispensers. Although shaped like Heinz spice dispensers, all logos have been covered in black tape.
“They blocked all the labels for the spices,” Gold sums up. “No free sponsors at the World Cup.”
Then he shows the scoreboard. Although the game is held at Levi’s Stadium, the Levi’s logo has been covered.
“They even blocked Levi’s, the stadium sponsor,” says Gold.
In an email to BroBible, Gold said he “didn’t notice any other major cover or changed branding beyond what was shown in the video,” but noted that he “wasn’t specifically looking for it.”
“No one in the stadium mentioned or explained it to me,” he added. “It seemed like something fans noticed on their own and discussed among themselves.”
Why are all these logos covered?
Gold isn’t the first to notice this logo-hiding. In fact, after the Levi’s logo in the stadium was covered, Levi’s has changed his profile picture on TikTok for the shape of the covered stadium logo.
Why is all this happening? According to Jeroen van den Berk, a member of FIFA’s communications team, this is because FIFA matches must be held in a “clean stadium” to protect the rights of the organization’s sponsors.
This means that when a World Cup match is held in a stadium, all non-FIFA-related branding must be removed, covered or minimized so that only the organization’s partners get the exposure they paid for. This is why the stadium itself, which is usually called “Levi’s Stadium”, is only referred to as the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium during the World Cup.
Should they cover everything?
While many understand the desire to hide the big brands, some may question whether covering everything, including the spice dispensers, is taking things a bit too far.
In FIFA’s mind, it is not. After all, there is more to the FIFA World Cup than what is shown on TV. Attendees see more of the stadium than the average TV viewer – and like to post videos of their experience watching the matches on social media.
FIFA knows this and uses it as a pitch to potential advertisers. The official FIFA partner site announces that sponsors will get “exposure in and around the stadium” and “ambush marketing promotion.” Allowing some brands to get these benefits for free makes the offer cheaper for those who want to sponsor the events.
Viewers think it’s a bit much
Regardless of FIFA’s reasoning for its decision, some commentators believe that the organization has taken things a little too far.
“What stage of capitalism is this,” said one user.
“It’s dead – THEIR stadium,” added another. “why should Levi’s Stadium be forced to cover their logo.”
“Bro I’m working on the WC I had to buy adidas bc showing up in a competing brand can get you sent home,” claimed a third.
Others noted that covering brands in this obvious way can create a “Streisand effect.” This is when an attempt to draw attention away from something actually draws more attention to it.
“Marketer here, Levis won,” declared one commenter.
“I feel like everything being blocked literally gives them more publicity than if it wasn’t blocked lmfao,” offered another TikToker.
After his video went viral, Gold told BroBible that the resulting debate surprised him.
“Most of the comments were people arguing back and forth about whether FIFA was entitled to cover the branding or not,” he said. “In my experience, when a video becomes controversial and gets people debating in the comments, that’s usually what drives it to take off.”
As for the idea that this brand editorial could bring more attention to the brands in question, he says it’s “absolutely” possible.
“I don’t think most people would have even noticed the Levi’s logo if it hadn’t been covered. The attempt to hide it ended up making it the focal point of the conversation,” he shared. “What’s even more interesting is that Levi’s turned it into a marketing campaign. Their social media profile pictures now have their logo covered by a white tarp, and they even put the same covered logo design on trucks. The situation ended up generating far more attention for the brand than it probably would have otherwise.”
BroBible contacted FIFA via email.
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