By Adam Britton, Sports Marketing Expert — BBC Sport
Levi’s was not supposed to be one of the biggest brands at this World Cup. Neither were Heinz or Beats. In fact, FIFA has spent much of this tournament trying to make sure fans see less of them — which is precisely why everyone seems to be talking about them. Outside the Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, the iconic Levi’s logo has been covered up with a white tarpaulin. Inside the press box, Heinz logos on ketchup bottles have been taped over. Germany’s Jamal Musiala was photographed pre-match with masking tape covering the Beats logo on his headphones. None of these brands are official FIFA sponsors, yet all three have found themselves at the centre of one of the World Cup’s most unexpected stories — arguably generating more conversation than brands that paid millions to be there officially.
It’s called the Streisand Effect — a phenomenon named after singer and actress Barbra Streisand, whose attempts to remove photographs of her home from the internet only increased the number of people who saw them. FIFA’s enforcement is not simply generating publicity; it is generating content brands can amplify. Heinz turned a taped-up bottle into a limited-edition product release. Beats posted Musiala’s photo with the logo taped over, captioned: “Spoiler alert: it’s a b.” — turning it into a teaser for an unreleased headphone model nobody knew existed; FIFA had effectively handed Beats a product launch. Levi’s didn’t run a stunt; it just let FIFA cover its logo and pointed everyone towards it. A single social post generated hundreds of thousands of interactions, and one TikTok of the covered logo amassed nine million views. Levi’s has since rolled out the tarp logo across stores in London, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Hong Kong, Brazil and Mexico — the cover-up became the campaign. FIFA’s protection of official sponsors is understandable; those partners pay huge sums for exclusivity. But fan attention is slippery, and non-sponsors will always try to find a side door into the conversation.