Football fans heading to the World Cup this summer are going to get an education in Chinese TVs, mobile phones, electric scooters and Mongolian dairy products.
As western companies, including Sony, Johnson & Johnson and BP’s Castrol, have pulled out of sponsoring the tournament after the Fifa bribery and corruption scandal, Chinese firms have secured an unprecedented presence at Russia 2018.
When Russia kicks off against Saudi Arabia in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on 14 June, fans will be treated to a seven-minute advert for Mengniu Group’s inner Mongolian milk and drinkable yoghurt.
The commercial will be aired during each of the 64 games in the tournament. Spectators fancying an ice-cream will have to pick from unfamiliar names such as Mood for Green, Ice+ or Suibian SuiXinGuo, after Mengniu secured exclusive rights to sell sweet treats including yoghurt drinks in the stadiums.
Other unfamiliar names to get to grips with during the month-long tournament include: Vivo, a mobile phone firm producing China’s version of the iPhone at a fraction of the price; the TV and fridge maker Hisense; the electric scooter company Yadea; and Dalian Wanda, a conglomerate controlled by the multibillionaire Wang Jianlin.
The dominating presence of Chinese brands comes despite the country’s national team failing to qualify for Russia 2014 or the previous World Cup in Brazil.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
