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How FIFA Forced World Cup Stadiums to Hide Their Names (and Accidentally Created Viral Ad Campaigns)

From fake shaving cream to covered logos, brands found clever ways to capitalize on FIFA’s strict sponsorship rules.

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Although the exact number is impossible to pin down, experts estimate Americans are exposed to anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 ads per day. Advertising is a multi-hundred-billion-dollar business. Global spending on ads, not their revenue, is expected to reach $1.26 trillion this year. Ads are quite literally everywhere, and we’re all thoroughly desensitized to it; we don’t think twice about it. Except now, we do.

Or rather, stadiums across North America must, because one of the peskier rules around the World Cup is that FIFA requires all venues to rid themselves of any pre-existing branding. Is this because FIFA wants to shield viewers from advertising so they can focus solely and fervently on the football match at hand? No, of course not. It’s because the stadiums’ ads get in the way of their ads. FIFA must “protect its brands and the exclusive rights of its sponsors,” after all.

All 16 stadiums hosting the World Cup across the United States, Mexico, and Canada were required to debrand ahead of time, and all 16 set to work with varying degrees of difficulty ahead of them.

The easy part was renaming each stadium for the event. For example, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium is now the “Atlanta Stadium”, Gillette Stadium is “Boston Stadium”, and AT&T Stadium is “Dallas Stadium” until the festivities are complete. Pretty much every stadium was........

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