Dozens of firms that used stars from France's once-mighty soccer team to help sell products are being forced to rethink their strategies after the sporting heroes bombed out of the World Cup without scoring a goal.
Big-name brands have pulled adverts featuring the defending champions from prime-time television spots, while sports shops have ripped down posters of key players as they scramble to offload massive stocks of French soccer strips - now spurned by shoppers.
France's 1998 victory made advertising diamonds of les Bleus, and French viewers can hardly turn on their television screens without seeing playmaker Zinedine Zidane gulping Volvic water, or captain Marcel Desailly chatting on his SFR mobile phone.
It all looked a little silly this week as France dissected the dismal performance of its team, which crashed out of the tournament in the first round without even scoring a goal - the worst performance on record for defending champions.
"The corporate world has been a bit over the top," admitted Mr Gilles Portelle, consultant at Havas Sports advertising group.
"Dozens of companies used members of the French squad to front brands, and those that were banking on victory don't look very clever now," he added.
Crumpled posters of Zidane and other players lay discarded in a sports shop in central Paris after managers ripped down all but three after France's 2-0 defeat to Denmark on Tuesday.
"We're not selling anywhere near as many French strips as we were before, although they are still popular among tourists," said Mr Ludovic Biguet, manager at a Paris Decathlon sports store.
Retail Carrefour, an official team sponsor, was pondering what to do with millions of copies of an official team magazine, now unlikely to fly off the shelves after the squad's astounding fall from grace.
While the group sold 75 per cent of its first issue, it is not looking forward to the release of the latest. "We'll have to release it because that's what we've planned, but putting it on the shelves is going to be dangerous," a spokesman told France Info radio.
Some firms pulled triumphant adverts from screens on Tuesday, replacing them with plan-B versions that commiserated with the team instead of cheering them to victory.
Sportswear giant Adidas tweaked their prime-time advert, replacing a rousing scene that showed the team playing inspirational soccer with muted and arty shots of the players pondering their defeat.
Mr Portelle said sponsors like Adidas with long-time links to les Bleus would suffer less from the humiliating defeat than those who had ridden the wave of euphoria to make a quick buck.
"Sport is always risky. This result might make companies think twice before they jump on the victory bandwagon." - (Reuters)
