Many football fans have no idea of the tragic consequences of the preparation and playing of the World Cup not only for the workers and indigenous people, but also for the entire Brazilian society and economy. Others know very well what is happening, but either feel that they can not react in any way or just succumb to the attractiveness of football in the end.
At the other extreme, some have vowed to “boycott” the World Cup – and not see ANY GAME in order to show their opposition to the dark aspects of the event.
On the other hand, however, by not seeing some games on television really achieves absolutely NOTHING! There are much more effective ways to boycott -without losing a single match on TV.
If you don’t have a television “audience meter” at home then basically you can see whatever you fancy
Lets clarify first of all the obvious: unfortunately or fortunately, FIFA, sponsors and everyone else in the chain of those who profit from the World Cup, do not give a damn whether you watch the show or not on TV!
“But are they not interested in the audience? After all, based on the number of viewers watching are all the sponsorships and advertising revenue calculated!”
But as we have mentioned above, UNLESS YOU OWN AN AUDIENCE METER at home, then nobody really knows what you are viewing, and in a country like Greece for example only 1,300 households own such a device! That is, if for example, 650 of these households have their television sets tuned into World Cup, the audience monitoring agency (In Greece’s case a company called AGB) will assume that half the population of the country actually watch football and announce an audience share of 50% ! (a little subjective, don’t you think? But that’s another, broader discussion).
Therefore, if you are within that 0.01% of households which DOES own an audience meter then you can truly “boycott” the World Cup by not watching it on your TV and this in turn will actually show up in the reduced viewing figures.
Everyone else who does not own such a device really does not, and cannot, affect in the most minimum way the FIFA ratings whether they chose or not to watch the game.
“SO WHAT CAN WE DO?” You wonder. Quite simply, watch the world cup! BUT make a real boycott!
What is this Boycott? DO NOT GIVE EVEN A SINGLE CENT TO THE SPONSORS OF THE WORLD CUP!!!
The real enemy of those opposed to the World Cup (should not be) the game of football. The problem stems inherently from the practices of FIFA, the supposedly non-profit international organization, which is responsible for organizing the World Cup.
FIFA is funded mainly through donations from companies, all industry giants. Those companies are not interested even in the slightest if the needs of the Brazilian people are met, if World Cup construction workers die, if the government moves entire communities out of their homes, if indigenous forests are uprooted or if unimaginable debts are created for the country as a whole!
Naturally, they are only interested in one thing- PROFITS PROFITS PROFITS! To achieve maximum visibility, they impose their own conditions on FIFA and, through it, to the organizing country (in this case Brazil).
For example, FIFA urged the Brazilian government to lift the ban on the sale of alcohol in stadiums, which was established ten years ago to combat violence. With the new law, beer sales are estimated to increase by 37% during the World Cup. Incidentally, one of the major sponsors of the event is the American company that produces beer- Budweiser.
Here is where we can intervene: as we have seen, it is impossible to influence the viewing figures, of which donors will make some preliminary conclusions about the visibility of their products. But we certainly can influence their real profits – and this is much more important!!!
NOBODY SHOULD DRINK EVEN A SINGLE BUDWEISER during the World Cup and for some time after! It’s easy (and other than that, it truly is a crap beer!).
DO not to buy Adidas shoes either! This is also a perfectly realistic goal!
DO NOT EAT AT McDonalds (even though we are sure some of you may find this hard…..its crap food and bad for your health at the end of the day, bad for millions of Brazilians, and bad for football!)
Do not drink Coca-Cola either (for the same reasons as McDonalds above)
THIS IS A REAL BOYCOTT! Not just “angry” posts on Facebook or pressing the OFF button of your TV…..this is true boycott! Hit them where it hurts the most….THEIR POCKETS!
(For a complete list of sponsors of FIFA, CLICK HERE).
You want to hurt FIFA even more? The lets go a step further: NOT EVEN A CENT to all advertisers
FIFA not only earns from sponsorship, but also from the television rights that national channels pay to them. These, in turn, pay the (FIFA sold) advertising time (half-time, before and after each match) and this just adds to the commercialization of the World Cup and the essence of Modern Football.
Here we know that some of you will truly struggle! You want to make a real boycott, and should refrain not only from Budweiser, but now we are also asking you to refrain from purchasing your favorite domestic beers as well, you know ….that company which advertises before, during and after the games on your local TV channel!!! As, of course, refrain from buying any other advertisers’ products, whether these are cars, furniture, televisions and all other items that are advertised extensively during football matches.
And its not just TV!
Of course the marketing of FIFA, sponsors and other companies that commercialize the World Cup is not limited to TV. It’s a shame to deprive yourself from your favorite local beer that normally also urges you to participate, for example, to a Facebook competition in order to win a ticket to go and watch the final, or win one national team shirt or anything else. Usually these competitions require a notification or a like in some application. So your participation “counts” as much more than just buying a pint of their beer. In this kind of cases you are supporting FIFA and of course the brewing company which in turn supports FIFA!
More broadly, the less we’re involved with the World Cup on social media, the better!!! If you do, make sure not to use any direct mentions of the word by using attributes such as hashtags (eg @ FIFA or # WorldCup2014). These references are perfectly measurable and thus further elevate the brand value of the organization (in this case FIFA) !!!
and now you ask us, “Seriously?”
Yes, seriously! If you do not intend to go to Sao Paulo and take on the Brazilian police, the above is the only thing you can realistically do to really affect the situation. In capitalism only demand and profits count for something. Call us naive, but we intend on eating our own HOME MADE BURGERS, DRINKING OUR UN-BRANDED COLA and filling our bellies with cheap beer from some small unknown, yet lovely little European brewery that does NOT advertise before, during or after ANY world cup games!