This World Cup, now well under way, has been dominated not only by the action on the pitch but how much brands are spending off it.

An estimated $10bn is being splurged by some of the world’s most recognisable organisations on adverts and campaigns, while some firms are milking the World Cup for free advertising worth millions – but more on that later. 

“It’s a massive peak,” advertising guru Charlie Rudd tells City AM. “It is always a boon for the industry – it is a global game that every country in the world gets involved in.

“At the last World Cup 3bn people were watching – so one in three of everybody in the world was watching football.”

A number of branding faux pas have taken place at this World Cup, however, with Gianni Infantino’s Fifa forcing stadiums to cover up their existing stadium sponsors: San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium is no more for the next couple of weeks, neither is Los Angeles’ SoFi or Boston’s Gillette Stadium.

Creative advertising

On an even smaller scale, Heinz products in media rooms had to be censored with black tape because the sauce maker is not an official partner. But brands have gotten savvy to this.

The iconic Levi’s batwing logo was covered, as per Fifa regulations, but it was done so in a manner that left it recognisable as the jean maker – jeanius, right? Elsewhere Gillette covered its logo with a tarp that mimicked shaving foam, while the SoFi did the bare minimum and used the thinnest covering possible.

“One of the things that we talk a lot about in advertising is creating what we call distinctive brand assets, DBAs,” adds Rudd, chief executive of Publicis Groupe UK’s Creative Practice. “And that is what’s recognisably the brand even if you can’t see the word, the name.

“What’s going on in the States in those examples [Levi’s and SoFi] isn’t actually anything new. If you watch the Six Nations, Guinness has been a big sponsor for some time and in many markets, you’ll see Guinness written on the pitch. 

“You won’t in France, because you can’t do alcohol advertising in France. And so what it says is the word ‘Greatness’ – but it looks very like the word Guinness. 

“You could get away with the subliminal work there. The point, though, of having distinctive brand assets is that you want people to be able to recognise your brand. 

“We’re talking about from 100 paces, even if they can’t quite see it, they go, ‘I recognise that colour. I recognise that shape. That is, that reminds me of the brand’.”

Dining out

But the single biggest advertising talking point of this World Cup so far has been the introduction of hydration breaks. Ostensibly brought in by Fifa to combat the sweltering conditions – even in the indoor, air-conditioned stadiums across the US – American broadcasters have used these three-minute pauses to play commercials that are earning hundreds of thousands of dollars for the likes of Fox.

In the UK, ITV has so far used the breaks to bring in the USA women’s manager Emma Hayes for tactical analysis. But there’s nothing stopping them from advertising the latest hoover or a 12-pack of beer.

“Being a football fan you do go, ‘I can see how irritating they are’,” Rudd says. “The player welfare is important but they’re having hydration breaks when they don’t actually need hydration and, for the flow of the game, you can see how irritating that is.

“But as an advertiser, you go, ‘What a great opportunity’. It’s another moment for in-game advertising. You can’t on the BBC, but you can on ITV – but that’s nothing new. 

“Cricket has had hydration breaks for some time, and hydration breaks if you’re watching the cricket are always sponsored, normally by a water. 

“So it is new for football, and therefore it’s an exciting opportunity in the game. But it’s not new from an advertising point of view, it’s just another one of those.”

Fifa World Cups, by their very nature, find themselves at the very epicentre of global sport every four years. Quite often nothing else matters between the first and final ball being kicked at a tournament.

And with that advertisers can dine out on the exposure offered up by such a global event, matched only by an Olympic Games or Royal wedding. And goodness are they dining out.