Brigada 1874 Ultra’s Twist on Barclays’ Advert
The corporate usage of emotive or ‘cool’ hashtags has always been a bit cringe worthy. Indeed Aston Villa themselves feel foul of their use of the #cometogether hashtag at the start of last season to launch the new Macron kit. Not only did fans report the new shirt was ironically actually coming apart, but the season that followed saw two sacked assistant managers, fans turning on an under-performing manager and the Villa chairman putting up the club for sale! #cometogether seemed to have tempted fate some what
Perhaps the most high profile corporate hashtag in football is Barclay’s #youarefootball. A huge bank telling football supporters that they are the heart of the game comes across as more than a little patronising. In the above picture, Barclays used a picture of a Brigada 1874 display in the Holte End to announce a free ticket competition winner. Essentially they were using a picture of a group of supporters that have at times been vilified by their club for very much being the embodiment of what Barclays are trying to preach here – creating atmosphere and whole-heartedly supporting their club.
Of course sponsorship is the nature of the beast in football nowadays, but sometimes the lines blur when clever advertising gets fan approval. Remember the Lynx sponsored astronauts posing as fans at Villa Park with their ‘Benteke is out of this world’ sign? A lot of fans thought that was just two crazy Villa fans, but of course they would probably have not been let in, if that was the case. It’s fun, as long as you’re aware of the actual motive behind it, which is basically to get as much column inches, retweets, shares and exposure for Lynx. Essentially, it’s the advertising company working for Lynx getting football supporters to make Lynx’s campaign go viral for little cost.
On that night the Brigada 1874 had a message to the corporate greed increasingly taking advantage of football, as supporters are increasingly viewed as consumers – ‘SKY STOL£ THE SOUL’ read the Brigada banner. This time the message to Barclays in their mock up parody of the Barclay’s ad that uses their image (seen below) is a little more direct. Nuff said! UTV
