Ep. 170 – The Surprising Power of World Cup Uniting a Divided World

Rob (00:00) And the ushers came through and said, Okay, over and over, they repeated, if you have bottled water that is not Dasani, that's anything other than Dasani water, you have to rip off the plastic label ⁓ from your bottle to be allowed to to be allowed in. No water bottles with any branding outs other than Dasani. Atlanta's the home of Coca-Cola, which owns Dasani, of course. that's the extent to which they're protected because they don't want social pictures. Don (00:14) my lord. Yeah. Rob (00:25) They don't want Don (00:25) I was about to say it has to deal with third party photography or things that live on, right? Yeah. Yeah. Rob (00:29) Yeah, it's gotta deal with everybody posting and whatever else. there's they're that tight and protective about the brands. Don (00:56) All right, we're back, Rob. Episode 170. One seventy. We're back and we're talking World Cup again because that's all anybody's ever talking about. It's all we talk about. Rob (00:59) One hundred and seventy. Listen, it it it it is ⁓ you know Don (01:08) Bigger it's bigger than the Olympics. It is. It's just bigger than the Olympics. Or or do we feel that way because it's here in the States? Rob (01:11) ⁓ well. No, I mean I mean I mean that that adds to it certainly, but ⁓ I I think what adds to it is dare I say these troubled times we're in, right? These times of ⁓ division and ⁓ I'll call it chaos, I'll call it war. it is it has been the great unifier and it has been it has been really refreshing and I think the world just ne needs it. Don (01:18) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uncertainty. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Rob (01:42) I think we think we do we need a good positive like, hey we're all on the globe together. Let's like let's all come together. So Don (01:45) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I agree with that. It's it's been interesting. I mean, it it's in everybody's social feed, whether you want it to be or not, in terms of just funny little anecdotal Norwegians rowing on certain things, or Germany's taking the, you know, taking the trip through the south, or you know, the wonder of how large America is, the heat, the airport, the all the different things, right? Through the world's eyes. It's been interesting. I think what's also is interesting is almost it's like Rob (01:57) yeah. Absolutely. Don (02:14) Does anyone even realize that Canada is a host country too? Like, it's almost like Canadians don't even know that that it's it's like because there are games in Mexico and we hear about the Mexican it's like, yeah, by the way, there was a game in Canada at like eleven o'clock at night last night, like no one paid attention. Like it's so weird. Yeah, they're yeah. Well, I think they're playing in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. I think they've got those three. Yeah. ⁓ but Rob (02:29) Yeah. W are they in are they in Vancouver? And and Vancouver, all three cities, yeah. Yeah. Don (02:39) It seems like they're the lost host nation. Like no one pays attention to that. Like it's bizarre, you know? So yeah. I mean, ooh, they there was that brutal injury again. Did you watch the video? Did you say where the guy broke the ⁓ yeah, bad. Straight red card. That was not good, man. That was that was that was ugly too. I mean, his leg was like ⁓ like flopping. Like it was that that guy's gonna be out for a year. It sucks. So it totally sucks. So Rob (02:45) And Canon's actually playing pretty well. ⁓ ⁓ The broken leg? Yeah, that was that was No, it was completely unnecessary. Yeah, you you hate to see it. Well, I think also too with this World Cup, like it's been a really good World Cup so far. I mean Don (03:08) Yeah, there haven't been clunker games, you know. Yeah, yeah. They've they've they've all been pretty good. So Yeah, but but ⁓ you know, that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I mean, they had multiple opportunities over and over and over and over again, and they just couldn't put the biscuit in the basket. So yeah. Rob (03:12) Not really. I mean England's game England's game yesterday was a conquer, but Yeah. Yeah. They couldn't do it. Well, and so you've had you've had great matches, and on top of that, you know, you the stars have the stars have shown. ⁓ everybody is scoring. I mean, and as much as I ⁓ you know, in the great messy Ronaldo debate, which is not much of a debate anymore in in in my eyes, ⁓ it's messy all the way, of course. But you know, with that in mind, I was kind of was kind of bummed to see Ronaldo Don (03:36) Dude, the stars are performing. Everybody's scoring. All the stars are. Not anymore. It's messy all the way. score. He he could yeah, I he could have had a hat trick. ⁓ I didn't realize this is this is World Cup number six for him though. He still he still has Messi on, you know, I mean Messi would have to come back in at what forty two and score a goal to then tie that record with Ronaldo in terms of scoring in six straight World Cups, which is insane. Insane. So yeah. Rob (03:55) Put it put in the brace the other day. You should have had. Yeah. Which is insane. And that I mean, that longevity is a record that will not I mean that that'll stand for Don (04:21) Yeah. I mean, but but also look at Ronaldo. He looks like he drinks baby's blood. I mean, he looks absolutely perfect. He's like a vampire. I mean, he looks just as hand like he doesn't look like he's aged at all. Like you look at Messi and you go, hey, he still is he's only 38 years old, you know, but he's got a beard now. He doesn't look like what he looked like in previous World Cups, right? He looks like a 38-year-old, but he's incredibly fit, incredibly Rob (04:34) No, no. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Don (04:46) intelligent from a from a playing perspective. He's obviously in incredible shape, you know, but he looks like he's played in a few world cups. Ronaldo just looks like he did 15 years ago. I I don't it's like baffling. Yeah. Yeah. It's insane. It's insane. So dude when he when he leans back, I mean Rob (04:57) Well, you know, the veneers the veneers and the Botox and I mean he's he's obviously much more vain than ⁓ and he has the world's largest Adams apple too. I don't it it is like it is you're like, Whoa, that's a grape that's an Adam that's an Adams grapefruit. That's like Don (05:12) Yeah, that thing is ridiculous. So ⁓ well, one of the again, we're talking about World Cup. It is, you know, and we will be for probably the next, you know, month or so, right? But I think one of the things that it relates to us and our podcast that I thought we could bring up was kind of aver or World Cup advertising, you know, and sort of how it relates, right? And we had joked in a previous podcast, I think, about like just how strict FIFA is and rules and regulations and w who's an official FIFA partner, who's not an official FIFA, like what they can do, things like that, right? And here, you know. We build these giant billion dollar stadiums, and part of the way to fund those things is sponsorships. And every single stadium everywhere in America, even if it's a single A baseball affiliate, has some type of sponsorship with it, right? ⁓ and we all laughed when FIFA was like, Hey, you know, ⁓ these stadium sponsors are not official FIFA partners. You have to cover up the logos at these gi, you know, the Dallas Cowboys stadium. Rob (06:06) Yeah. Don (06:09) Right. This big billion dollar state. Like you gotta cover up the logos, right? ⁓ and then they're not allowed to refer to them on the broadcast as what they are. Like obviously we have Mercedes-Benz Stadium, you know, in Atlanta, and they have to cover up the logos, and then it's just called Atlanta Stadium, you know, or ⁓ you know, I think Arrowhead at Kansas City, all these fame, you know, because we're so used to, you know, NFL football things, right? ⁓ all these things have these bizarre generic names now. Boston Stadium, San Francisco Stadium, like all these things, right? Rob (06:37) Yeah. Don (06:39) Well, I I saw this really funny thing, and it's it's it's kind of caught caught fire a little bit, ⁓ I think, and I'm sure you've seen it as well, with Levi's out west, right? out in Santa Clara, right? Levi's, it's Levi's Stadium, it's where the 49ers play. and file this under the like you couldn't buy this amount of media. ⁓ is kind of how I feel about it. I don't know, you know. ⁓ they have, you know, industrial designed their logo into the stadium, as a lot of these have, these big three-dimensional. Rob (07:00) Sure. Don (07:08) You know, and Levi's, the Jeans Corporation, they have that very ⁓ you know, specific kind of batwing logo, that red little little thing, right? And it's like, okay, so they just shrunk wrap that logo with with this like white. It's kind of like what you what you winterize your boat with, you know, like you heat seal and shrink the white the white like plexi mylar material. Yeah, yeah. So it's perfectly preserved the batwing. Rob (07:15) Yeah, it's a pretty iconic shape, yeah. Yeah. Right. It perfectly matches. It it retains the shape perfectly. Don (07:37) But but on the stadium, it just says stadium next to it because it's Levi's Stadium. So it's this white thing, right? Well, Levi's in their brilliance, right? I mean, they changed their social profile to this. You can go on Instagram, you know, they've done so many things with this in terms of like, you know, we can't say who we are, we're almost like censored in its own way, right? and kind of like how Wendy's has a great social team and Arby's has a great social team, and they and they they get together and they they gang up on McDonald's and things like that, right? Rob (07:56) Right. Right. Don (08:07) so Levi's did that whole thing, totally caught fire. And so Gillette in Boston did the same thing, right? They except they covered it in like a giant three-dimensional, ⁓ it looked like shaving foam or shaving cream. You know what I mean? And then the two of them have been going back and forth in regards to like, I see FIFA got you too, Gillette. Ha ha, you know, like, and they're having this hilarious discourse, right? And then Gillette changed their all their logos to be just literally like a thing of foam, you know, like it's Rob (08:17) Like yeah. Yeah, it's great. Yeah. Right. Don (08:34) I I I love that kind of stuff. Like it's such a funny, weird side note of, you know, hey, call it a negative to a positive, right? You know, I mean, is it a negative? I guess it is a negative. You spay you spend $20 million a year for your name on the stadium, the world's, you know, biggest sporting event, you know, right? And so here's this negative that's a positive. I think it's kind of interesting, you know. Rob (08:36) Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah, I think it's been it's been great. And and they are ⁓ and we talked about this too, just about how FIFA I mean, you're not gonna see an overhead shot of Mercedes-Benz Stadium because that's the only logo that FIFA allowed them to keep because it's retractable, massive, like you can't cover that. Yeah. And I don't know I don't know if they're gonna open the roof at all. ⁓ maybe if there's an evening game or so. I I I I haven't heard any report. They definitely won't during the day. ⁓ Don (09:09) Yeah. Yeah, it's part of the Oculus. Yeah, they can they can't cover it. I don't think they would. Rob (09:25) I don't know if they would at at night or not. Don (09:27) Didn't at one point we heard like the air conditioning bill or something when they do it. There's some there's an outside of it just being beautiful day outside, why is the roof not open? There is like an there's an economic impact to them just opening and closing the roof to that building. Yeah. Rob (09:36) Yeah. ⁓ certainly. Certainly. Certainly. ⁓ but but FIFA being protective of their of their their sponsorships and partners and everything going on. I was ⁓ quick anecdote. I went down to the the Spain Cabo Verde Cape Verde match, ⁓ which was amazing. ⁓ the Blue Sharks and they managed to tie Spain for those that don't know, which is an incredible undertaking. It's a small Don (09:58) In Cape Verde? Yeah. Yeah. Rob (10:10) West African island nation of like a half a million people or something like that. It's incredible. Don (10:14) Are they the small they are the smallest country in the World Cup, right? Yeah, okay, yeah. Rob (10:17) I believe so. I believe so. ⁓ and I'll tell you what, just in the spirit of World Cup and their fans showed up. I mean, it was amazing. And the atmosphere down there pre-game was just incredible. But so so we went down there and we were getting in line for the the FIFA fan experience or whatever that they have outside of the ⁓ outside of the state outside of Atlanta Stadium. And ⁓ so we're in line. It wasn't up. We were waiting for it to open up and we're waiting in line. Don (10:25) Yeah, they did. Badass. Rob (10:46) And the ushers came through and said, Okay, over and over, they repeated, if you have bottled water that is not Dasani, that's anything other than Dasani water, you have to rip off the plastic label ⁓ from your bottle to be allowed to to be allowed in. No water bottles with any branding outs other than Dasani. ⁓ now we're the Atlanta's the home of Coca-Cola, which owns Dasani, of course. ⁓ but I mean that's the extent to which they're protected because they don't want social pictures. Don (11:02) my lord. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Rob (11:16) They don't want Don (11:16) I was about to say it has to deal with third party photography or things that live on, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Rob (11:20) Yeah, it's gotta deal with everybody posting and whatever else. So there's they're that tight and protective about the brands. It was and we're all kind of people are you know, people are standing in line like what? Like like now I have to rip off this plastic. Don (11:25) That's unbelievable. Yeah. Yeah. Well, but the world doesn't view the world like how you and I view the world, right? I mean, we view it through this bizarre advertising. It's like when I go to a Mexican restaurant, right? I mean, the typography on that menu is either gonna send me into a good place or it's gonna send me into a total tailspin. You know what I mean? Like, ⁓ Rob (11:37) Correct. Correct. Right. Don (11:52) You know, so like I mean I I view menus a weird way. You know, so I mean we we think about the world like, yeah, from an average aerial perspective and from a longevity perspective and that social picture is gonna live on beyond it. But that's that's not the official water of the World Cup or whatever the case, you know, that type of thing. So ⁓ Rob (12:03) Crazy. Yeah. Yeah. I've just never seen or experienced that level of Don (12:12) Yeah. In brand police, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no, hit me. Rob (12:14) Brand police is just crazy. Here's another one. I'll give you another example. I just this I was just I was just reminded of this. So another iconic ⁓ Atlanta restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A, of course, everybody's favorite. Eat more chicken. There you go. Well, inside ⁓ the Atlanta stadium, they have the in the kind of the main part where you go in one of the main gates, they have the wall of helmets, right? And it's all the helmets on the wall of all the colleges and everything else. Don (12:20) Check the line. Institution, yeah. It's the Georgia high school hall of fame or something. What it's every it's every team in Georgia, professional, amateur, everything. Right. Yeah. I know. Rob (12:44) I think it's every team in Georgia. Yeah. ⁓ and right in the middle of that, there is a giant three-dimensional cow, you know, holding the the sandwich board that comes down. But it's like a permanent installation. I mean, this is and it's holding the sandwich board that typically says eat more chicken or has the and I mean the board is ⁓ it's gotta be f 20 feet tall. I mean it's massive. Well, they have that completely blacked, blacked out, not the cow. Don (12:55) Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Huge. Nice. Nice. Rob (13:12) But they have the sandwich board. Like there's no there's no copy on it, there's no type on it, there's no everything there's no nothing on it. ⁓ which no one would notice except Nerdo here. Don (13:17) Yeah. Yeah. Well, I I was about to say, like you or I go in there, we yeah, we know what it is, but if you're from Norway and you find you're just like, there's a weird cow on the wall, like you wouldn't even, you know, like so. How was the merch sitch? I've heard that they've really done a good job of every game. They've got the home and away jersey of the teams playing, and then they also have the US jerseys. Did you did you happen to go by or whatever? I've heard that just kind of code away. Rob (13:25) I'm like, wait a minute, there's no Yeah. Yeah. There's no there's no type on it. So they are Yeah. Here's what I can here's what I can tell you, ⁓ about about my experience in general. ⁓ A amazing. We went into the stadium like to the bands like Two hour and a half early before kickoff, just to walk around. And and you've got, again, you know, you've got Cape Verde fans hugging Spaniards, taking photos with each other. I also went to the to the Spain KSA Saudi Arabia match. And same thing. I mean, you had Saudi Arabians in full, you know, garb with Spaniards that taking pictures and things. Again, the great, the great unifier. But what was interesting to me was ⁓ and I'll get to your question, but Don (14:00) Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the full deal. Yeah, yeah. Rob (14:29) You forget again, we're so we we go there a lot for games and concerts. Dude, people are walking in there and they are walking around just like you know, the space where the triang that the triangle sort of video board is that main area. People are losing their minds. Just my gosh, look at this place. And you kind of forget, you take it for granted how it it is, it is amazing. ⁓ but the merch. Don (14:32) Dude, it is the world class venue. Yeah. Like losing their minds, yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Out there by the by the Falcon. Yeah. Dude, it's impressive, man. I mean, yeah. Rob (14:56) So they've got pop-up the they've got pop-up merch shops everywhere. The lines for the I mean, I I wanted to go and buy some merch and do some things. I'm not even joking you. The lines are are are halfway around the I mean halfway around the building. Like you can't, you know, the only way to do it is to run out during the match and even then you're still gonna be standing there for for gosh knows how long. Don (15:04) Dude, you're gonna miss the match, right? Forget it. Forget it. Yeah. Nobody wants that. Nobody wants that. So Rob (15:22) And I haven't really done the r the the research, but I'm assuming that there are ⁓ only they're limited edition items that you can probably buy only only at the match, which is why everybody's doing that. Don (15:31) Yeah, like pins and things and stuff yeah, scarves or whatever. Yeah. ⁓ to bring it back to advertising, and then we can wrap this one up, you know, ⁓ hydration breaks. You know, ⁓ soccer is two halves, two forty five minute halves, right? And now we have four quarters, right? Because we are doing ad revenue in the middle of a whatever, right? We're stopping for hydration break. You know, they're playing in a sixty degree domed stadium. Rob (15:43) Yeah. Ad breaks. Yeah. Don (16:00) In Canada and taking hydration breaks. Like, ⁓ I hate it. I mean, obviously, you know, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. the fans are booing in the whatever, right? It's interesting. ⁓ you you know, the US broadcast straight to commercial immediately. I mean, to the point that Fox is missing action when they come back from hydration and breaks, Telemundo, they will not cut. They stay right there. They do not break. Now they'll do a little box in box. They'll be a little like, Rob (16:05) I think I think everyone hates it universally. Sure. Yeah. Don (16:29) Brought to you by such and such, whatever. But the announcers are still talking and they're talking about the game. They're showing the players, whatever. I watched the last US men's national team on Telemundo, totally in Spanish, just because I didn't want to deal with the commercials and I didn't want to deal with Alexi Lawless and all that malarkey. ⁓ and it was a great, but like my fear from an advertising perspective is that hydration breaks are here to stay, you know. And I really, really hope that's not the case. I don't know. What are your thoughts advertorial-wise? You know. Rob (16:54) Well, I mean I I think it it it's universally panned, right? And I think that, you know, okay, I get it. When you're playing out in LA at three o'clock in the afternoon and it's a hundred and eighty degrees, you know, or whatever. Yeah, right, right. But I'm saying I'm saying there's certain environments where it's like, Okay, that makes perfect sense. But I also but I also get that they if they do it what they can't pick and choose, that's not fair. Don (16:59) Yeah. Well it started in Qatar, right? I mean Qatar is the one that started the whole yeah, yeah. That makes sense, yeah. They can't pick and choose. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Rob (17:23) You know, and it absolutely, you know, depending on the match, it absolutely affects the rhythm of the match. The match is meant to be played 45 minutes straight. It is not per half with extra time. It is not meant to be broken up. So, you know, yeah, I I'm not a fan. ⁓ and I also believe that like these guys are great athletes. They they can persevere. They can, you know, and and if you're getting dehydrated or you have to come out. Don (17:28) It totally does. It totally does. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Rob (17:53) That's that's part of the Don (17:53) Well, there are that I mean, it you're not running for forty five minutes straight. I mean, there are opportunities to drink water to do I mean there there are, you know, I mean, but but it is to me, this just re it just it just to me, I mean, again, we are we are in advertising. This is what we do, but it's just it's such a money grab. It is such a blatant just FIFA, like you guys aren't rich enough. Like the the networks the networks, you know, whoever gets the next World Cup, they're not gonna not want the opportunity to sell ads during that, you know. But like Rob (17:59) Yes. Yeah. Well, yeah. And Yeah, it's just the Don (18:23) I I can live with the little the little sports box and then a logo pops out and says, brought to you by Coco. You know, and I can deal with the digitally put logos on the the the screen, not on the field, but like over by the goalie and over by what like those type like we're used to that kind of stuff. I mean we got logos now on jerseys and stuff in in American sports leagues, right? Just the hydr the hydr I don't know, man. It really, really bothers me. So Rob (18:47) Well, it's just another negative against the the Americanization of the global sport. And I saw one thing to that end where it was a picture of the like, you know, ⁓ the sideline like tables where people are like sitting at tables and eating because we're Americans and that's what we do. And it you know, the whole thing was like the European mind cannot fathom a a pitch side table like where you're sitting there eating. ⁓ it's pretty ⁓ it's pretty interesting. ⁓ Don (18:51) Yeah. ⁓ god. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Rob (19:17) Yeah, but it's yeah. I will say also too though that the ⁓ in stadium graphics, the motion graphics throughout the the are have been incredible. Yeah, they're sick. And they're very ⁓ from an advertising perspective, they're very unified, meaning it's either full takeover for just a little bit and then it's gone. So it's not like Napa here and FIFA here and Don (19:17) It's like seeing a heavy metal band at Chastain, right? Dinner metal, you know, just the Sick. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's cool. Rob (19:45) So it's not just this, it's all unified and and it's really well done, especially for the teams and when they do the team rosters and all the things. The motion graphics have been phenomenal. Don (19:56) That's awesome. That's awesome to hear. Yeah. I I I love the graphic package. I mean, I think the logo's cool. I think it's I you know, I'm into it. So it's all good. So yeah. All right. Well, speaking of good stuff, I guess that we should wrap this one up, you know? Rob (20:04) Good stuff. ⁓ all right. Yeah, let's do it and go USA. We made it through to the knockout round. So ⁓ that's that's where we are. Don (20:13) I know. I know. I'm psyched. So how far can we go? Can we get to the quarters? I'm being greedy. I'm already skipping thirty two and sixteen. Could we make it to the I think we could. Rob (20:20) Yeah. I I I think we can. I mean we'll we'll see we'll see how today goes because I think today will determine who who we play in the first knockout round. So hopefully we get a we get a weak opponent. but yeah, I think we got the way that we're playing, I don't see why we can't make it to the quarters. Or beyond. All right. We will we'll keep you posted though. ⁓ where can the people ⁓ I was Don (20:27) Who we play next for yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're looking good. We're looking good. So all right. Yeah, yeah. All right. Well when people when people want to look good, just like the USA squad, where do they go, Mr. Rock? Rob (20:48) That's right. ⁓ well, they should come visit us on all the socials, of course. ⁓ we're not hard to find. ⁓ or visit us at mocktheagency dot com and ⁓ yeah, give us your thoughts on your World Cup experience and story. And we'll talk to you next time. Don (20:52) Yeah. Sure. Total. Yeah, totally. All right. See you next time. Thanks, everybody.