Fifteen years ago, to the month, South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup Football tournament which also sparked a great deal of commentary on this blog on a number of intellectual property issues. Branding, sponsorships, counterfeiting, changes to legislation and the "World Cup effect" created by its spotlight on South Africa (and Africa generally) all became talking points, a much-needed boost for our economies and exposure for IP issues.
Indeed, on a personal level, within hours of this blog post - The [arrest? of the] Beautiful [at the] Game, I became immersed in negotiations between FIFA, Bavaria and the girls who were arrested for alleged ambush marketing. The circumstances of that incident are such that it is still widely noted as a seminal moment not only of that World Cup, where it stole headlines for a week, but also for discussion on what best practice is for ambush marketing concerns, the brilliance of marketers and also how to deal with ambush marketing effectively... or not. For me it meant missing a few games of football but gaining insights unlikely to be repeated in my lifetime.
Another topic that came to the fore was the use of national flags and state emblems and the legitimacy of it all. This post "Flagitis" became rather popular even though its conclusions were inconclusive and revealed the confusion surrounding permissions for use of national flags for promoting business. Fast forward on that topic and suddenly, in 2025, we have seen a number of notices in the national gazette permitting the use of the flag by a variety of different organisations in South Africa. People have obviously found the Minister to talk to and are bugging him regularly!
The examples are illustrated in the pic and were requested by organisations as diverse as the South African Revenue Service (the tax guys), Big 5 Cookware (as it says on the tin), Olive or Twist (campaign creators) and SA Greetings (gifts and accessories). A typical notice will read:
National pride was again on display this weekend with South Africa cricketers winning, against most betting odds, the ICC World Test Championship. This is against a backdrop of South Africa becoming Rugby World Cup winners in 2024 in remarkably close and challenging circumstances, and recent global wins for athletics, surfing and UFC. It's no surprise therefore that local marketers wish to latch onto national emblems in the interest of their organisation's success and the South African public obviously oblige.
It's not all roses (or rather, proteas) though; South Africa football jerseys are the slowest off the shelves based on their lacklustre performances and brand South Africa got somewhat "trumpled" in the White House recently. Tellingly, in RSA's arsenal on that occasion in May was none other than two RSA golfing stars and a 14kg book, not on development economics, but on, you guessed it, South African golf courses. Yes, golf is a possible way to Trump's heart but it's really a reflection of a national brand that is steeped so much in sport. Not just sport mind you, but success in sport.
Darren Olivier
